Huntsberger, Libby and Grizzly standout, inducted into Hall

Vince Huntsberger still leads the Montana Grizzly record books with the most all-time tackles, at 393.

Now, the former safety, inducted into the University of Montana Grizzly Sports Hall of Fame with the 2001 Montana football team Sept. 14, is beginning a new job as an Emergency Room doctor in Sandpoint, Idaho.

For the Libby native Huntsberger, it’s been a busy month.

“It was a very great honor,” Huntsberger said of his team being inducted. “About 60 of 90-plus guys were there. It was a very big deal.”

With two-thirds of the 2001 1-AA (now Football Championship Subdivision) National Champion Grizzlies in attendance, the event, at Missoula’s Holiday Inn, was standing-room only.

That Grizzly team went 15-1, with the one loss coming to 1-A (Football Bowl Subdivision) team Hawaii. It wasn’t an incredibly dominant team, but it always found a way to get things done.

In the National Championship game against Furman, Huntsberger was named the MVP after a 13-6 win, even though he was technically responsible for the Paladins getting on the board at all. 

He finished with 10 tackles, a fumble recovery and an interception. On the last play of the game, Huntsberger batted down a Furman pass in the end zone. It fell to a Paladin and allowed them on the board. 

   Head coach Joe Glenn couldn’t have cared less, and had nothing but good to say about his former safety, 

   “Pound-for-pound, I’ve never coached a better football player,” Glenn said, now coaching his alma mater, the University of South Dakota. “He played tough, hard and fast. He’s a cowboy, a tough playmaker and just made of barbed wire.”

   The husband of Amelia, an OB/GYN in Sandpoint, and father of 11-month old Luke, the friendly, likable Hunstberger doesn’t seem like a killer, but his personality on and off the field are very different things.

   His parents talk about Vince in subdued tones, the fact that he has achieved isn’t a surprise, all their kids have.

   “He was a really easy kid to take care of,” said his mother, Kate Huntsberger. “Straight A, Valedictorian. He’s really mild-mannered.”

   His father, Gary Huntsberger, had similar things to say.

   “Not only has he achieved,” Gary said. “He’s a good guy to go along with it. But you don’t put one kid above the others.”

   Vince’s siblings, older sister Heidi, older brother Andy and younger sister Jolene all have masters degrees. Foster brother Ronnie is an Achievements employee and is well-known around town.

   All the family’s success has gone a long way in keeping Vince humble. When asked whether he might be inducted individually into the Grizzly Sports Hall of Fame, he shrugged it off.

   “My greatest memory is ending my career with a national championship,” he said. “The team induction is way more important to me.”

   Huntsberger played a defensive back and option quarterback at Libby, and he helped the Loggers to playoffs that year and a 7-2 record. Butte Central beat Libby to end the season, but scouts from Missoula had seen enough and offered Vince a football scholarship.

   393 regular season tackles later (the NCAA did not recognize playoff stats until 2003) Huntsberger wasn’t quite sure where he wanted his life to go.

   He had thought medicine would be an interesting career, but he had to pursue his football dreams first.

   Vince tried out for the NFL and got looks by some teams, but the 5-foot, 10-inch, 195-pound Huntsberger was just a shade too small for the biggest league.

   Undaunted, he endured a grueling season with the Billings Outlaws, an Arena Football League team.

   At that point he realized it was time to give football up. He attended medical school at Montana State and University of Washington, and served his residency in Ann Arbor, Mich., where he met Amelia.

   After pondering in what he’d like to specialize, Emergency Room just clicked. In it, he is a jack-of-all-trades in a high-paced environment. 

   Maybe like on the gridiron? 

   Coach Glenn isn’t surprised at Huntsberger’s success.

   “For me, one of the cooler things was seeing (my players) not as free-spirited kids, but as responsible dads,” Glenn said. “Changing diapers, wiping snotty noses. You know they are all going to be successful. Those are the guys who win championships.”