Austin Marry named Hudson's Scholar-Athlete of the Year

HUDSON — Austin Marry is going to study business in college.

He might consider becoming an ambassador for the Hudson community.

“Hudson has always been there for me. It’s a family,” he said. “It’s the best place you could probably ever live, to be honest.”

Marry recently completed a remarkable athletic career at Hudson and has been named Hudson ’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year. As a sophomore, he was a starter on the Division 8 state champion football team. He wrestled four years with the varsity – the last three of which ended with Division 4 team state championships – and he helped the Tiger golf team reach the state finals three out of his four seasons.

In the classroom, he was as successful, earning a 4.09 GPA and finishing in the top five of his class.

“My family instilled in me that academics was the priority and everything else was second," he said. "No matter what happened, you always made sure that you took care of your grades, and you learned as much as you could to grow as a person and an individual. Athletics was just a bonus to that.”

Next month, Marry leaves for Ava Marie University in Florida where he hopes to either play golf or play football.

“I’ll go down there and see what happens,” he said.

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He visited Ava Marie last year on spring break and fell in love with it.

“It’s a small Catholic school. I’ve always wanted to go down south," he said. "I really like the campus and the culture they have there.”

He will go to college with 24 college credit hours under his belt thanks to dual enrolling. It wasn’t always easy balancing late-night practices, bus rides to and from sporting events and homework.

“It took a lot of juggling,” he said. “You had to really set your priorities straight.”

Marry said his favorite sport is probably golf. He started golfing when he was 8 years old at Shaffer’s Evergreen Golf Course in Hudson.

“It’s probably my favorite sport, especially when I’m playing good,” he said. “When you are hitting the ball pure, nothing is better.”

Golf was just one of the sports he played. He’s always stayed business with athletics, he said.

“All growing up, I never had free time because I was always doing some sports,” he said.

As a youngster, he often played with the older kids.

“I was always playing up with the older kids,” he said. “We had each other’s back. We played Iron Tigers baseball and played football and wrestled together. We knew each other, and we knew each other’s families.”

Marry isn’t taking it easy this summer. He is working with his dad doing seal coating and concrete work. He also assists with the laser engraving business and has been helping a local pizzeria advertise.

“He’s just a great kid,” Hudson football coach Dan Rogers said.

He loved the Hudson community and is grateful for the championships and friendships.

“Being part of the (athletic) program and community is truly amazing – having all the opportunities and memories that I was able to make," Marry said. "Having the state championships doesn’t mean anything, but how we got there and the process we took means everything. Being able to go through the hardships and push my brothers or family to win those – I’ll never forget those. Any of them.”

HUDSON'S HONORABLE MENTIONS

Alex Czeiszperger, 4.104 (cross country, track, basketball)

Lucius Arnett, 3.82 (football basketball, baseball)

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Austin Marry named Hudson's Scholar-Athlete of the Year