The late Ed Scharer always seemed in control when he took the mat at the College Avenue Gymnasium. The Rutgers wrestler was not only one of the top heavyweights in the region during his time "On the Banks", but one of the best in the country, and fans from all over campus would pack the stands to see Scharer take the circle.
Tracy Scharer, Ed's soon-to-be wife and girlfriend at the time, remembers attending matches with Ed's father, Dick, and the rest of the Scharer family. Sitting in seats reserved for them by members of Ed's fraternity (Chi Psi), the group would look on as Scharer worked his opponent. Deep into a bout, Ed would look up to his father, who would give him a thumbs down when it was time for Ed to end it. On queue, Ed would collect his victim, pin him to the ground and wait for the referee to slap the mat.
"I'm not sure if that happened every time, as he usually wrestled with a grin on his face," Tracy Scharer said. "He loved it."
The theatrics Ed Scharer – who passed away in 2017 at the age of 76 – provided to the RU faithful are something Tracy Scharer remembers to this day. A graduate of Douglass College, Tracy Scharer always enjoyed seeing Ed wrestle.
"It was really great to watch him wrestle because he was winning all of the time," Tracy said. "Ed was consistently winning and had lots of pins. Ed brought a lot of fans to the arena because he was fun to watch."
Ed Scharer also brought a lot of hardware back to campus. One of 16 All-Americans in program history, Scharer was a three-time letterwinner and three-time national qualifier at heavyweight for the Scarlet Knights from 1962-64. During his time in the varsity lineup under head coach Dick Voliva, RU produced 21 dual wins.
In his first season of varsity action in 1962, Scharer captured an EIWA individual title, going 4-0 at the conference tournament to become just the sixth individual EIWA champion in program history at that time. Scharer followed his EIWA title with a runner-up result in 1963, as he collected the team's Wilfred-Cann award, given to the most inspirational Scarlet Knight wrestler.
The senior captain capped his collegiate career in 1964 with a second-place result at the EIWA Championships and claimed the John Fletcher Memorial Trophy, given to the wrestler who has scored the most team points at the conference championship event. Scharer also earned a sixth-place finish at NCAA's to lock up All-America accolades, the only podium finish for a heavyweight at nationals in program history.
John Welch, a teammate of Scharer in 1964, remembers Scharer as a dominant wrestler during their time together on campus. But it was his confidence that Welch admired as a younger student-athlete under Scharer's guidance.
"Ed was extremely confident," Welch said. "When you looked at him, he wasn't worried about his opponents at all, he didn't even talk about his opponents. Just being around him, he exuded confidence and you picked up some of that confidence being a part of it."
Scharer used that confidence to land his first job out of college as a pharmaceutical salesman, as he and Tracy moved to New England. His passion for wrestling remained and he joined the local YMCA, where he won three New England individual titles and was awarded the Triple Crown belt.
While Scharer succeeded in the pharmaceutical sales world, it was not a fit for him. Scharer graduated Rutgers with a degree in agriculture and loved being outdoors and working with his hands. So, after moving back to New Jersey from New England, Ed and Tracy moved to Virginia and bought a farm.
"It was really what he wanted to do," Scharer said. "I hated leaving my family in New Jersey because we were so happy there, but it worked out so well for our family. We had a fairly large herd of cattle, raised a lot hay that we would sell to the horse owners."
Scharer was extremely active in the Virginia farming community, collecting numerous accolades while becoming the district representative of the Virginia Farm Bureau and then Vice President in 2008.
Among those awards included the Warren Beach award from the Young Farmers Association, the Housing Hero Award from the Albemarle Housing Improvement Program and the Commonwealth of Virginia Clean Water Award.
When not busy tending to the farm or raising the couple's two children, Greg and Emily, Ed Scharer still kept in touch with his wrestling roots. Greg wrestled at Albemarle High School in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Scharer was instrumental in establishing the school's varsity wrestling program. Scharer and the other parents raised money for a mat and convinced the school they needed a program.
Wrestling had an impact on Scharer and his lifelong dedication to the sport was never in question.
"I know [the Hall of Fame] meant so much to him and it is very nice that this has come about," Tracy said. "I wish he was here to accept the award himself. He valued his career at Rutgers very much, and sincerely loved wrestling."
