Sweno learns life lessons from sport

He finishes his career at state

Senior Jared Sweno gave up wrestling in middle school to play basketball for a few years, before Marathon varsity head wrestling coach Kraig Underwood persuaded him to give wrestling another try as a freshman in high school. Sweno is glad he gave wrestling another chance because he’d never had the unique experience of wrestling at the individual state championships on Saturday in the Wausau East gymnasium.

“I remember my freshman high school year because it was like a learning lesson for me,” Sweno said while sitting together with his head coach, Underwood, and his parents, Mike and Andrea Sweno, on the bleachers watching the state finals matches on Saturday night in the Wausau East gymnasium. “Coming back to wrestling was like picking up a bike and trying to ride it again after you haven’t for a few years. There were a lot of lessons that came with it.”

Although Sweno lost both to his state matches on Saturday morning, which eliminated him from the remainder of the competition, he put into perspective what the sport of wrestling has meant to him during his high school career.

“I’ve become brothers with a lot of my teammates throughout my high school years and wrestling has given me lots of friends and family,” he said “I’ve definitely looked up to my wrestling coaches who’ve given me advice in my life; I’ve taken things they’ve told me to heart. Wrestling has definitely brought me closer to my town and community.”

After Jared Sweno graduates from high school this spring, he is leaning toward attending college at Winona St. in fall to earn a degree in accounting.