NICK MARCO
Susquehanna’s Nick Marco, right, shown here taking down a Montrose opponent, will take his football skills to the next level in the fall when he attends Carnegie Mellon University to play linebacker and study engineering. STAFF PHOTO/KEVIN WOODRUFF
BY KEVIN WOODRUFF
Susquehanna linebacker Nick Marco will step up his game, both academically and athletically, in the fall when he begins classes at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
Marco, 18, of Susquehanna, said that he ended up choosing Carnegie Mellon because of their engineering program.
In addition to sending transcripts and S.A.T. scores to the school, he decided to send them a highlight reel a friend had made him of his senior season on the gridiron.
“I sent out a highlight reel, and the coach ended up contacting me,” Marco said. “And after visiting campus, it felt like the right fit for me.”
In addition to Carnegie Mellon, Marco also shopped around academic offers from Penn State University and Drexell University.
Marco said that he feels that getting the opportunity to play in college is a huge bonus.
“I wasn’t really expecting it, but I’m really excited to get to be involved at the college level,” Marco said.
He is slated to be an outside linebacker at Carnegie Mellon, and has already began working out for the upcoming season.
“It’s a lot of weight lifting,” Marco said. “But it’s something I’m used to. I weighed 140 pounds as a sophomore, I had to compensate somewhere.”
He will begin his first college season when he arrives on Aug. 12 for orientation. Marco’s team practices will then begin on Aug. 14.
And despite being involved in an intensive academic program, he isn’t nervous about getting his work done.
“I look at it as I will only have a set amount of time to do my work, and it’s something I’ll have to get done,” Marco said.
Marco said that he love for the game of football came from growing up in a house where he and his father, Nick and mother, Kim, would watch football.
“It was something we did every Sunday,” Marco said.
Marco’s father also played football in high school, as a member of the Pittston Area team.
He said that growing up he couldn’t ask for better role models in his life.
“Both my mom and dad have been great influences on me growing up,” Marco said. “They’re both very supportive. I couldn’t ask for anything better.”
In the meantime before he enters his college career, he will continue to do his workouts and hold down a summer job at a local hardware store.
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