Robert T. Quade came to Centenary College in 1986 as the Chair of the Business Division, where he served for 15 years. Quade attended the College of the Ozarks (now University of the Ozarks), in Clarksville, Ark., where he was a member of the wrestling team. In 1990, he was approached by a few Centenary students who knew he had wrestled, and they asked him to start up a wrestling team at the school. That year there were seven wrestlers and they managed to win Centenary’s first dual meet, defeating West Point Prep, while establishing the squad as a club team.
After graduation, when transfers and military enlistments left the team with one wrestler, Centenary was forced to drop the club team. However, in the Spring of 1993, President Bennett-Smith asked Quade to reinstate the wrestling team the following year.
Citing the potential of the wrestling program, Quade finally convinced the administration to hire an experienced coach, and in the Fall of 1996, the College brought on Joe Gomez as the program’s second head coach. Gomez, who recently passed away, established the Cyclones as an NCAA Division III wrestling program in 2000.
Even after handing over the coaching reigns, Quade has remained dedicated to Centenary Athletics. He has traveled with and supported the wrestling team for 17 years and has seen it grow from a club team practicing on wall mats, to current times where the team has become Nationally ranked and practices in a brand new 5,000-square foot facility.
In 1990, Quade founded the Centenary men’s cross country team and served as the team’s first head coach. He coached the men’s team for two seasons and was also the head coach of the women’s cross country program during their 1991 season.
Quade received an Honorary Doctorate Degree from the College in 2006 and is currently a Professor Emeritus. Quade is the school’s NCAA Faculty Athletic Representative and recently accepted the position of the Director of Business Student Development at Centenary.
His support of Cyclone Athletics extends beyond wrestling and cross country, as he makes an effort to attend as many Cyclone contests throughout the year, encouraging other members of the faculty and staff to join him. Many consider him to be Centenary's No. 1 fan.
In 2010, Quade was inducted into the Hackettstown Senior Hall of Fame for his commitment to community service.
