Mike Chiesl

Mike Chiesl is a contestant from.

Profile
Name (Age): Mike Chiesl (31) Tribe Designation: Zapatera, Murlonio Current Residence: Del Mar, Calif. Occupation: Former Marine Personal Claim to Fame: Bringing all my Marines home after my first deployment to Iraq. Inspiration in Life: My grandfather. He was a B-17 Navigator during World War II and spent two years in a POW Camp. Hobbies: Scuba-diving, football and golf. Pet Peeves: Selfishness and laziness. 3 Words to Describe You: Determined, disciplined and outgoing/outspoken. SURVIVOR Contestant You Are Most Like: Rudy. Nobody was intimidated by him, so he wasn’t voted out early and he had the ability to tough it out. Reason for being on SURVIVOR: Winning the competition and earning the million dollar prize. Why you think you'll survive SURVIVOR: The mental toughness I've developed from serving in the Marines and playing college football at the US Naval Academy. Why you think you will be the sole SURVIVOR: I like to think outside of the box, and I am socially aware and strong athletically

Survivor: Redemption Island
Mike, in the beginning of the game, was part of the majority Zapatera Alliance along with David, Sarita, Ralph, Steve, and Julie, who all had the common goal of eliminating Russell the first chance they got. After having won the first two Immunity Challenges, Mike and the others agreed that it was time for Russell to go, and Mike himself stated that "There's some fat on this tribe that we need to trim (referring to Russell)". After throwing the third Immunity Challenge, Mike went with the split vote plan, which got Russell voted off on Day 8. Mike felt it important to win the next Immunity Challenge to avoid karma, and that's what happened. But unfortunately after that Zapatera would lose the next 3 Immunity Challenges. Mike's alliance stayed strong to vote off Kritsa, but then after that some division became apparent between David and Sarita which made Mike unsure at first on whether to vote off Stephanie or Sarita, but in the end he voted for Stephanie for being untrustworthy and being the last remaining member of Russell's alliance.. At the next Tribal Council, Mike, Julie, Steve, and Ralph were stuck between David and Sarita, and they voted off Sarita (save for Ralph) for being weaker.

When teams merged, Mike tried to get Andrea and Matt to flip over to Zapatera. Mike barely lost the first Immunity Challenge to Natalie and felt like he was a target. So Ralph used his Hidden Immunity Idol on Mike, but Boston Rob's plan was to blindside his ally Matt, wasting the Idol. Mike would be voted off at the next Tribal Council by a vote of 6-5.

Mike would stay on Redemption Island for 2 weeks, outlasting former Zapatera tribe members David, Julie, and Steve. In the duel following Steve's elimination, Mike had to chose between having the Redemption Island inhabitants (himself, Ralph, and Matt) spend time with their loved ones or the players still in the game (Rob, Phillip, Grant, Ashley, Natalie, and Andrea) spend time with their loved ones, and Mike decided to give the most to the most people in letting the final 6 in the main game spend time with their loved ones. Matt was a bit bummed but felt like it was the right thing to do, but Ralph said that Mike made a dumb move. Jeff stated that if Mike were to return, he would benefit a lot from that decision. Ralph would be eliminated in the next duel, making Mike the last Zapatera member left in the game and the only one to make the finale. In the final duel between him, Grant, Matt, and Andrea, Mike lost out to Andrea in the end, finishing the game in 6th place and becoming the 7th member of the Jury. Mike voted for Boston Rob to win.

Voting History
In Keep Hope Alive, the vote ended with a 3-3-3 tie between Ralph, Russell and Stephanie, forcing a revote. Mike did not change his vote at the revote.

Post-Survivor

 * In June 2013, Mike and his wife's first child, a son, was born.

Trivia

 * Mike is the highest ranking Zapatera member from Redemption Island.
 * Mike is the youngest male member of Zapatera.
 * Mike is the only member of Zapatera to outlast more than two Ometepe members after the merge.
 * Mike is the only member of Zapatera to make the merge without sitting out for challenges. The Other Four Zapateras who made it to the merge sat out for at least one challenge.
 * On a blog post, Jeff Probst wonders whether Mike decided to let the 6 players left in the main game at the time spend time with their loved ones instead of having the Redemption Island residents spend time with their loved ones based off of genuine kindness or because he thought that would be a good move if he were to make the final 3. Ultimately, Jeff thinks that it had to do with a little bit of both.
 * Mike made it to the casting finals for Caramoan but was not chosen.