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Wed, Apr 21, 2010
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Mike Grossner and Kent Kessinger both played at Bethany under former coach Ted Kessinger
(GRAND ISLAND, NEBRASKA) This Saturday afternoon it will be spring football, with more than 120 all star senior players from around the country playing in the fourth consecutive College Fanz Senior Classic game, at the Salina Stadium this Saturday (April 24) at 1:00 P.M.
The game will feature the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics best football players, as chosen by College Fanz officials, including Jason Dannelly founder of Victory Sports Network which now is a part of College Fanz, and founder of the CollegeFanz game.
College Fanz Sports Network, is the worlds largest online college sports community, which was launched by ESPN founder Bill Rasmussen.
The game will be broadcast live (and available later on-demand) with webstreaming on the website .
Rasmussen said two of the rising football coaching stars of the NAIA will coach for the event. Coach Kent Kessinger of Ottawa University for the Nationals, and Mike Grossner of Baker University for the Americans, to guide the competing football student-athletes.
Ottawa is in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference, and Baker is a member of the Heart of America Conference.
Both Kessinger and Grossner are graduates of Bethany College during the tenure of retired head coach Dr. Ted Kessinger. Bethany is one of ten institutional members of the KCAC, an affiliated conference of the NAIA nationally.
To-date, 120 former NAIA football players are on the two rosters for the game including three players from the KCAC Conference for the Americans and 22 KCAC players for the Nationals.
Kessinger is in his seventh season as the OU Braves head football coach. In 2009 the Braves flew to heights with Kessinger at the helm, as he led them to an 11-1 record including a 9 and 0 mark in the KCAC. Those 11 wins are a school record. Ottawa won its first KCAC championship since the 2003 season, and also won the program's first NAIA national playoff game. The Braves hosted the first round of the playoffs for a first time in school history, and came from behind to defeat Hastings College, 40 to 34. For his achievements, Kessinger was honored as the KCAC Coach of the Year, and he was the first coach from the KCAC (as well as from Ottawa) to earn the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Regional Coach of the Year award.
Grossner also is in his seventh year at the helm of Baker University's football program, and he continues to build the Wildcat program with an infusion of young talent and high profile transfers. Grossner led the Wildcats to a 7 and 3 record in 2009 and ended the season ranked 23rd in the nation. Grossner brings a defensive mindset to the Senior Classic, as Baker finished sixth in the country in total defense at 262.9 yards per game.
The three previous Senior Classic gridiron tilts led to several players signing to NFL, CFL, AFL, AF2, and other professional contracts. The Scouting Bureau, headed by Steve Brown, as well as numerous NFL, CFL, and Arena Football league teams will be attending the game in search of the next great unknown star. Off the field, players will speak to area high school students during their visit to Salina. The players will spend time talking about college, character, and goal setting.
The College Fanz Sports Network is the world's largest online college sports community with students, alumni, and other fans of college sports. College Fanz boasts over 22,000 web pages devoted to more than 1,450 colleges and universities competing in over 225,000 NCAA and NAIA athletic events. Live and on-demand broadcasts of selected college sports events enhance the constantly-evolving content offered on College Fanz.