The late Scott Marko was born March 23,1973. He was the oldest of four children, born to Robert and Jan Marko. Scott grew up in Saint Croix Falls where he participated in many sports, but excelled in wrestling. The wrestling coaches that were pivotal in molding him as a wrestler and coach were Dave Hansen, Keith O’Donnell, and Harry Johns.

Scott had many personal wrestling accomplishments but it was through coaching that Scott was able to contribute to the sport of wrestling. Scott’s number one priority as a coach was building men of strong character and integrity. He believed athletic ability faded, however he believed character and integrity lived on forever. Scott placed a huge emphasis on academics and expected nothing short of excellence in the classroom from his student-athletes. His number one goal in the wrestling room was to help each wrestler reach their full potential. Scott expected each individual to reach for “Greatness” knowing that each individual’s definition of greatness may be different from one another.

Scott’s coaching career began at Boyceville while he was a student at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. Following graduation, he was employed by the Somerset school district and served as the assistant coach. Here he gained insight as to how he wanted to run his program in the future. After serving at Somerset as a special education teacher he pursued employment at the Amery school district. Scott spent his last eighteen years of life here as special education teacher, head coach, and a prominent member of the community. Scott spent many of his early years investing time into the youth program because he believed a program needed to be built from the bottom up. His investment into the youth program proved to be a very important piece to the puzzle. At this level, Scott produced, one USAW folkstyle national champion, thirteen USAW folkstyle national All-Americans, twenty-four WWF state champions, and eighty-five WWF state qualifiers and place winners. These young men proved to be the building blocks of what would become a very honorable program in Wisconsin.

The Amery wrestling program started regaining its prominence once Scott’s first crop of youth wrestlers hit the high school wrestling scene. In 2008, Amery won its first of ten consecutive regional championships. Scott’s program reached the team sectional finals four times, but fell short of accomplishing their goal. However, Scott’s athletes performed very well at the WIAA State Individual Tournament. His athletes were always at peak performance level and can be seen in his eight WIAA state champions, twenty-one state place winners, and forty-six state qualifiers.
Scott placed an emphasis on off-season wrestling, because he believed this was where state titles were won and lost. He built a freestyle and Greco club to serve northwest Wisconsin. Here, the best kids in the area battled back and forth throughout the spring. The skills these men learned would be critical to their performance on the national level and in the upcoming seasons. The Amery athletes from this club would go on to win one USAW triple crown, four USAW national titles, and seventeen All-American honors.

Scott and his wife, Brooke lived and raised their family of five (Hunter, Abigayle, Kole, Griffin, and Zander) in Amery where they lived a very private life focusing on faith and family. He was an avid outdoorsman who loved to go hunting and fishing with his kids. Scott was dedicated to being the best husband, father, teacher, and coach he could become. He was truly a student of the sport who dearly loved it for its pureness.

Our family would like to say thank you to the community of Amery for buying in to Scott’s plan for the program. Without your support, Scott would not have been able to reach his success as a coach. We know he would like to say thank you to his athletes over the years, their families, and the athletic department of Amery. Scott would also thank his coaching colleagues in the Middle Border Conference and surrounding communities. On behalf of Scott, we would like to personally thank, Dan Clark, Greg Nichols, Paul Enslin, Josh Gould, Chris Hansen, Jim Ritchie, Jim Ritchie Sr., Pete Nusbaum. We would also like to thank the Northwest Wisconsin Officials Association along with Dave and Kevin Black for their support throughout the years, and Chad Olson for his consistent and impartial officiating. Scott would be truly humbled to be a part of such a distinguished group of men

Saint Croix Falls High School
Wrestling career record 103-8
Four-year varsity letter winner
Four-time Conference champion
Three-time Regional champion
One Sectional Championship
Two-time state qualifier (6th in 1990, 2nd in 1991)
Member of the 1991 State Championship team
Selected captain by teammates for two years
National team member in 1990

Head Coach- Amery High School (17 years)
One USAW Triple Crown Winner
Four USAW National Champions
17 USAW High School All Americans
Eight WIAA State Champions
21 WIAA State Place winners
46 WIAA State Qualifiers
Four-time WIAA team sectional runner up
Ten WIAA Regional Championships

Amery Youth Coach Volunteer
One USAW National Champion
13 USAW All Americans
24 WWF State Champions
85 WWF State Qualifiers and place winners

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