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AROUND THE QUADS
Although his wrestling career was cut short in high school by a hip injury, Huemer kept his love for the sport. He attended every home Columbia wrestling meet during his four years as a student and remained active in the wrestling program after his graduation. He frequently alerted Columbia coaches about New Jersey high school wrestling prospects. When Ron Russo was appointed Columbia's head coach in 1973, he sought out Huemer and offered him an informal one-year position as coach/recruiter. In that one year, Huemer expanded Columbia's recruiting nationwide. Russo, delighted, asked Huemer to stay on as an assistant coach. When Russo left Columbia in 1991, Heumer remained on staff as an assistant to Lou Montano; he was still assisting Brendan Buckley, who succeeded Montano this fall, when he died. Huemer was regarded as a pioneer among Columbia coaches of all sports. Twenty years ago, he was the first to computerize recruiting, even before IBM had brought out its first PC. Today, all Columbia coaches recruit in all 50 states, utilizing high school tournament results, an approach that Huemer was the first to employ on a large scale. Today, all Ivy League wrestling coaches recruit in the mountain states and the west coast; Huemer was the first, and for years Columbia thrived with wrestlers from states like Nevada, Washington, Utah and Montana. Huemer was a familiar figure at high school and wrestling tournaments both nationally and on the East Coast, and published a popular tournament guide. Huemer spent 25 years as a teacher, first of social studies and then of English, in the Parsippany-Troy Hills school district in New Jersey. He introduced computers to the classroom in the district, and served as president and chairman of the New Jersey Computer Club, seeing its membership grow from four to 300 during his tenure. He also served as a member of the Mendham Board of Education. For his services to Columbia, Huemer received the 1994 Alumni Athletic Award. His uncle, Robert Watt, received the same award in 1954. Watt was one of Columbia's first athletic directors, and is credited with recruiting baseball legend Lou Gehrig '25. Huemer is survived by his mother, Kathleen Huemer, a brother, two sisters, and six nieces and nephews. A memorial service was held Saturday, December 30, at the United Methodist Church of Mendham. Donations may be made in his memory to: Columbia College
Fund Bill Steinman
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The
University mourns the death of John Huemer '65, an assistant
wrestling coach at Columbia for more than 25 years, who passed away
on December 22 in Mendham, N.J. Huemer, who was 57 and lived in Mt.
Tabor, N.J., had battled pancreatic cancer for more than a
year.
