Edward Allan Scharer was a three-time NCAA championships qualifier at heavyweight for the Scarlet Knights from 1962-1964. He earned All-American honors at the 1964 NCAAs, placing sixth in the heavyweight bracket. Sharer had pinned Iowa's Roger Schilling in his opening-round match before eventual champ Joe James – Oklahoma State's first African-American wrestler – knocked him into the consolation bracket, making Scharer one of 16 All-Americans in Rutgers wrestling history.
Scharer was a three-time Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association championships finalist, winning the conference crown in 1962, defeating Army's Dale Kuhns in the finals. He was also team captain as a senior. (Note that Rutgers competed in the EIWA before joining the Big Ten.)
Scharer earned a number of honors during his Rutgers mat career, including the team's Wilfred-Conn award, given to the most inspirational Scarlet Knight wrestler, and the John Fletcher Memorial Trophy, given to the wrestler who has scored the most team points at the conference championship event.
Sadly, Scharer died in May 2017 after a long battle with cancer. He was 76.
In addition to Scharer, other members of the Rutgers Hall of Fame Class of 2018 include former baseball star Doug Alongi, lacrosse standout John Howland, soccer star Carli Lloyd, and swimmer Catherine Whetstone-Battoni.
The inductees will be honored during Rutgers' homecoming football game against Northwestern at HighPoint.com Stadium in Piscataway on Saturday, Oct. 20. The Hall of Fame dinner will be held the night before at the East Brunswick Hilton.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now