SUNY Cortland Athletics

A first team All-ECAC linebacker and a first team All-American lacrosse attackman at SUNY Cortland in the early 1970's, Paul Wehrum has directed Herkimer County Community College to seven National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) championships, including the last five national titles, since becoming head coach in 1979. The five-time national coach of the year was inducted into the Upstate Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1995. His Herkimer teams have captured every NJCAA regional crown since 1984.

An All-South Shore attackman at Freeport High, Wehrum excelled at both football and lacrosse at SUNY Cortland. He started 26 consecutive football games and was team captain and M.V.P. A three-time lacrosse All-American, he captained the 1972 Red Dragon squad that was the only small college team ever invited to play in the all-division NCAA Lacrosse Tournament. He also captained the North team in the North-South Lacrosse Classic. He scored 10 goals against Brockport in 1970 which is still a single-game mark at Cortland. He was the Men's Athletic Association vice president at SUNY Cortland, where he earned a B.S.E. in 1972 and a M.S.E. in 1974. He was an assistant coach on Cortland's 1973 U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association national championship team and, a few years later, on Nassau Community College's national championship team.

He coached at Lynbrook (N.Y.) High from 1975-79. Wehrum annually coordinates the Herkimer Red Cross Blood Drive, serves as Civil Service Commissioner in Little Falls (N.Y.) and co-chairs Herkimer County's Fire Safety Awareness program.

He and his wife, Christine Zumdosky Wehrum '75, have two children: Brett and Lyndsay.

UPDATE:  Paul announced his retirement from coaching in May 2019. His final 13 coaching seasons came at Union College, where he started in 2007 as the program's first full-time coach. He led Union to 138 wins, including 15 victories and the NCAA quarterfinals in 2014 and 14 wins and an NCAA berth in 2019. Wehrum had established his coaching legacy well before going to Union, serving 24 years as head men's lacrosse coach at Herkimer County Community College from 1980-2003 and guiding the Generals to an unbelievable 403-62 (.867) record, including a collegiate record 59 straight wins. The team earned 21 consecutive Region III titles, eight NJCAA national championships (including five in a row) and 14 title game appearances during his tenure to go with four NJCAA National Coach of the Year honors. He then went on the start the women's lacrosse program at Herkimer, quickly building up the Generals from scratch and delivering the team to the NJCAA national championship game by year three. Wehrum retired as a member of countless Halls of Fame, including the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame (1999), the Long Island Lacrosse Hall of Fame (1995), the Upstate New York Lacrosse Hall of Fame (1994), the Adirondack Lacrosse Hall of Fame (2015), the NJCAA Men's Lacrosse Hall of Fame (2009) and the Herkimer CC Athletics Hall of Fame (2015) in addition to the C-Club.