February 16, 2010 – Nick Buckley – The Battle Creek Enquirer – Many people in Battle Creek have seen Jeff Scheuer before. He was featured in some of the local Mattress Mart commercials along with his brother and co-owner of the store, Trent Scheuer. For one particular commercial, Jeff rode down a hill on a mattress while decked out in a luge outfit and helmet. It’s fair to say it wasn’t the type of speed Jeff was used to, as the one-time luge athlete had spent time training with and coaching some of the best lugers in the world.

“I was a luge athlete back in the day, from ’88 to ’93,” Scheuer said. “I suffered a series of injuries and it took me out of the development pipeline.” Scheuer did make the 1994 Winter Olympics in Norway as the strength and conditioning and start coach for Team USA. There, he worked with Muskegon’s Mark Grimmette. Grimmette, the five-time Olympic doubles luger, carried the American flag during the opening ceremonies.

“He is totally representative of what an amateur athlete, is,” Scheuer said. “Even though it’s an individual sport, he puts the team first. I’m just very proud of him, proud to call him a friend. I couldn’t be happier for a nicer guy.” Scheuer and Grimmette did much of their luge training up at the Muskegon State Park, which has one of the four luge tracks that exist in the United States. It is also considered the most publicly accessible track.

Scheuer now lives in Rochester Hills and he operates Mattress To Go in Shelby Township.  He said he will take in the Vancouver Games like most Americans – through television and the internet.  “I keep in contact with a few of the athletes,” Scheuer said, “but I try not to bother them during the Games. I know you get pulled in a million different directions.”