Fred Stueber

It's nice to see someone return to his alma mater & be successful.

Graduating Rahway High School in 1971, Fred was a fine athlete having played football, baseball and basketball while also being a 1976 New Jersey Golden Gloves runner-up.

Fred graduated from Concord College in West Virginia in 1974, compiling a 21-20 record on the mat and winning the Concord Invitational Tournament in 1974.

He returned to Rahway to revitalize a weakened but once strong wrestling program.

The 1993 New Jersey Wrestling Coaches Association "Coach of the Year" was Fred Stueber, the highly successful wrestling coach at Rahway High School, where he teaches health and physical education while also coaching football, track, baseball, soccer and gymnastics.

"Coach of the Year" honors have come often for this great Coach - a three-time Officials "Coach of the Year" in Union County, seven-time County Coach of the Year, seven-time District Coach of the Year, and five-time Region Coach of the year in Region 3 and District 11.

After starting as an assistant coach for three years, Fred took over as head coach in 1981 at Rahway and has never looked back.

Fred related, "In college I wanted to try wrestling, so I went out for the team. I wasn't very good at first, but I fell in love with the sport and got better as the years went on. When I became the Head Coach at Rahway High School the same thing transpired. I wasn't a very good coach at first. I lost my first 27 dual meets. With a lot of help and support from other coaches and friends, I got better. I've watched the sport change the lives, improve the work ethic, and develop a brotherhood between young men that is stronger and unlike any other sport."

What a record.

As of 2012, Rahway's dual record was 341-114-5. Fred coached six state champions, a high school national champion, four high school All-Americans, two college All-Americans, an NCAA Division I champion, 31 county champions, 68 district champions, 17 regional champions, 51 state qualifiers, and 18 New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Tournament place-winners.

Fred's teams won 3 sectional championships (1989, 1999, 2001), three county championships (1995, 1996, 2005), eight district titles (1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2006), eight Watchung Conference crowns (1989, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99), four Mountain Valley Conference titles (2001, 01, 02, 03), Mid State 39 Valley Division, holiday and Christmas tournaments: Woodbridge (1987, 88, 89), Hanover Park: (1994, 95, 96, 2006) and Rahway: (1996, 97, 98, 99, 2000, 01, 03, 05, 06, 07, 08, 11), with many undefeated teams.

Fred has been the architect of the Rahway program, serving as assistant in the Rahway Recreation program for more than 12 years.

Peter Karavites, an assistant coach for 10 years, recalled Fred took students from families that could not afford equipment and made sure they always had the equipment they needed and taught those young men the lesson that hard work could make anyone a better athlete, but even more importantly, a better person.

Fred preached that if you got in trouble in school or if your grades went down you would not get on the mat for a match, but made sure you stayed close to the program so he could help those students stay out of trouble and make sure they studied.

He recalls one state sectional team tournament where one of Fred's wrestlers had hidden ringworm on his arm during weigh-ins and wanted to wrap it so it could not be seen. Fred found out and there was no way he would let his desire to win a state title interfere with sportsmanship. The young man did not wrestle and Rahway lost the title by two points. The team came into the locker room crushed, knowing they would have won the title if their teammate had been allowed to wrestle. Some parents were angry with the coach. Fred told the team he would take the blame, but when they got older they would understand cheating and lying would never be the right thing to do.

Fred exhibited that he was a coach who cared more about life lessons than winning the wrong way.

Fred has been President of the Union County Wrestling Association for five years while also being a member of the New Jersey and Union County Wrestling Coaches Associations, and is part owner and manager of The New Jersey All-State Wrestling Day Camp.

Rahway high School is proud to have Fred Stueber as its wrestling coach.

Hard work, dedication and time-on-task are all characteristics of this successful coach.

Awards:

Year
2014
Award
Lifetime Service to Wrestling
Chapter/Region
New Jersey

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