Saturday: Hassler To Enter Nanuet Hall of Fame

Nanuet Sports Hall of Fame 10th Annual Dinner is this Saturday and five are being inducted:

• Rob Veltidi 1965
• Dick Berich 1968
• Ray Perez 1968
• John Hassler 1968

John Hassler

• Football & Wrestling
• Class of 1968

John Hassler took losses hard. In a sport like football, one player cannot make or break the fortunes of an entire team, but John certainly tried. Playing for the small-school Golden Knights against schools two or three times larger, John was a two-time All-County defensive lineman, a pass-catching offensive end and co-captain his senior year. “He was very much a perfectionist,” says Jan Trieschman, John’s widow. “He wanted to win every game, and he was always disappointed after a loss. He thought about what he could have done differently.”

On the wrestling mats, John’s single-minded focus and dedication found its ideal outlet. A three-year varsity letterman and two-year captain, he swept the 1968 RCPSAL and Section 9 titles at 154 pounds and made school history by finishing fourth in the New York State championship tournament – Nanuet’s first state place-winner in wrestling. He ended his mat career as Nanuet’s leader in wins and pins through his senior year.

John attended Nanuet schools from kindergarten through 12th grade, starting at Highview Elementary School and moving on to Nanuet Junior-Senior High School. At Highview he was introduced to wrestling by Coach Ray Stedge, a highly influential figure who instilled in him a love of the sport and helped maximize his potential. Their athlete-coach relationship was durable enough to withstand vehement disagreement – as when John took Jan to the State tournament in Syracuse against Stedge’s wishes. “Coach Stedge thought that girlfriends just got in the way, and that I would take away from John’s concentration for wrestling,” says Jan, a 1968 Nanuet graduate whose maiden name is Kenney. “But it helped him. John tended to worry prior to a match. Having me there kept him loose and less stressed.” 

In the 1967 All-County article in The Journal-News, Coach Holland was unstinting in his praise of John: “He’s like having a coach on the field. He was the finest all-around football player on our team.” One of John’s highlight-reel moments came in November 1966, when he hauled in a 76-yard bomb from quarterback Brian Fay to score Nanuet’s first touchdown in a 19-0 blanking of Pearl River in the Little Brown Jug game. He also figured in the second touchdown and his interception in the fourth quarter led to the Knights’ third score. The victory snapped a 16-game Nanuet losing streak dating back to 1964.

Many people remember John’s exploits in football and wrestling but few may know of his prowess in gymnastics. He was a founding member of the school’s gymnastics club and with the encouragement of Stedge (himself a gymnast at Springfield College) and Coach Dave Hanson, he began training and competing in AAU and open competitions. When the Black and Gold Club brought members of the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team to Nanuet for an exhibition and fundraiser, John trained with the team and took part in the exhibit.

John, Jan and their two young children, Jennifer and Kurt, moved in 1975 to the Nashville suburb of Franklin, Tenn., where John took a job as a manufacturing plant supervisor. Eager to stay involved in sports and work with young people, he coached in the American Youth Soccer Organization and with the Special Olympics in gymnastics and wrestling. He also taught physical conditioning and therapy to recovering heart attack patients. 

Tragically, John died in April 1979, at age 29, in an accident involving a horse that had escaped from a pasture near his home. Concerned for, and protective of, the many young children in his neighborhood, John attempted to steer the horse back to the pasture but was kicked sharply in the chest, directly over the heart, and died instantly.

Jan remarried 15 years ago and now lives in Gallatin, north of Nashville, with husband Greg Trieschman. She works as a project manager for Cigna Health Care and has five young grandchildren. Daughter Jennifer, 40, lives in Ojai, Calif., and has three children age 5 or younger, and son Kurt, 39, resides in Brooklyn and has two children, ages 8 and 6.

Jan’s brother, Brad Kenney, captained the Nanuet football team in John’s sophomore year and they later became best friends. Brad also graduated with John’s brother, Bill, in 1966.

“I knew Johnny very well. He was a neighbor of ours," said Rob Veltidi, who is also being inducted on Saturday. "We worked in the summer together for the school. We mowed the lawns. He was a freshman in my Junior or Senior year but I just can’t help but remember what a good kid and hard working young man he was. I went to watch him wrestle in the state tournament up in Cortland. He was just a pure athlete. I can’t say enough about him."

*Biographies Courtesy of Jamie Kempton of the Nanuet Hall of Fame Committee.