Bill Fiedler '82 graduated from Ripon College with the most singles and the most doubles victories in the history of the Men's Tennis program. Although his career singles record of 60-11 has since been surpassed, Fiedler's career doubles record of 73-5 (with partner Dave Woolf '82) has stood the test of time and continues to stand as a school record 39 years after his graduation. A member of three Midwest Conference team championships, Fiedler was inducted into Ripon's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019.

"Bill arrived on campus his freshman year as the most complete player I ever recruited," legendary Ripon tennis head coach Charlie Larson '65 said. "By the time he was a senior, Bill could make every shot in the book. From basic ground strokes, to a variety of serves, to drop shots, touch volleys, and topspin lobs, Bill was the complete package."

Fiedler burst onto the scene as a freshman in 1979 by winning his first individual conference championship at number four singles. That season also marked Ripon's first of three consecutive MWC team championships. Fiedler would add to his hardware by winning conference championships in each of the next two years at the number three and number one flights, respectively. He is one of just eight players in the history of Ripon's men's tennis program to win at least three individual conference championships.

"As good of a singles player as Bill was, I believe he may have been a better doubles player," Larson said. "His mastery of every shot allowed him to adjust to the nuances of doubles."

Fiedler and Woolf won the MWC Number three doubles championship as freshmen, before repeating as conference champs at the number two flight the following season. Fiedler then teamed up with Jerry Hardacre '81 for a third consecutive doubles championship in 1981 at the number three flight.

"Bill had four things that made him a great player," Larson said. "He had the skills, was a great athlete, had a terrific head on his shoulders, and he hated to lose."

Although he failed to win his fourth consecutive conference championship as a senior, Fiedler's season record was so good and he was so highly ranked that he still qualified for the NCAA Division-III National Tournament for the second consecutive season, accomplishing that feat in both singles and doubles (with Woolf) as a senior.

"During his junior year, Bill was the best tennis player in the conference and qualified for the D-III National Tournament. The following season, he repeated that feat and was seeded to play the number one singles player in all of Division-III during the first round at Nationals," Larson recalled. "His opponent wasn't the best player on that day, as Bill defeated him in straight sets and became the talk of that tournament. Although Bill eventually lost, that didn't detract from what he had already accomplished, being the only player at that tournament to defeat the number one seed, which was a terrific experience."

Coach Larson was one of many people who made Fiedler's Ripon College experience a memorable one.

"The camradarie I experienced with my teammates and Coach Larson made everything very special," Fiedler said. "Coach Larson did a lot of things well, but there are two things that stand out to me. The first was his ability to teach doubles. He was way ahead of his time with the use of hand signals, which gave us a big advantage and helped myself and others become much better doubles players at Ripon. The second thing I remember about Coach Larson is that he always kept things fun. Events like 'Meatball Doubles' and the 'Hiney, Riney, Liney Open' really says it all. He mixed in fun with some positive messaging during intense moments such as, 'The cream will always rise, boys!'

As great as Fiedler's tennis career was for the Redmen, he credits much of his success to Woolf, who served as Fiedler's doubles partner for the majority of his college career..

"One of the things that made Dave such a terrific doubles partner was the fact that he had one of the best overheads I've ever seen. This was partially because he was as fast moving backwards as most guys are moving forwards, which worked well for us because I had a mediocre overhead and at 5-foot-6 on a good day, opponents would take one look at Dave and always lob the ball to him," Fiedler said. "I recall one match against our big rival UW-Oshkosh, whom we had some bad blood with at the time. This didn't sit well with Dave, who preceded to go into Rambo-kill mode, hitting our opponents with his overheads as hard as he could. The Ripon College football team, whose practice had been pushed indoors due to rain got wind of what was happening and circled our court. For some reason, the Oshkosh players continued to lob Dave and he kept crushing overheads at them with all the football players continuing to roar their approval. It was just a great scene."

Fiedler and Woolf would be connected for the rest of their lives after attending Ripon College together, as Fiedler's life has been shaped by Woolf's friendship.

"Dave and I became even better friends after college, and many years later, he did the best thing a friend could ever do for another friend," Fiedler said. "Dave introduced me to my wife Kim, which in turn brought our wonderful children Ingrid and Will."

A native of Scarsdale, New York, Fiedler currently lives in Winnetka, Ill. with his wife, who played number one singles at Michigan State University, and their two children.


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