Steve Marianetti

A two-time winner of the NCAA Division III Coach of the Year award, Steve Marianetti, a former NCAA Champion and assistant wrestling coach at the University of Illinois, is entering his 22nd season as head wrestling coach at Elmhurst University.

Marianetti's squads have repeatedly ranked among the nation's best, earning Marianetti a pair of NCAA Division III National Coach of the Year awards. His squads have also earned seven CCIW Championships with Marianetti earning CCIW Coach of the Year honors seven times. He led Elmhurst to three straight CCIW Championships from 2005-2007 and 2011-13. The Bluejays also took home the team title in 2017. In his 18 seasons as the coach of the Bluejays, Marianetti has coached five national champions, 31 All-Americans, 50 national qualifiers, 51 CCIW champions and 10 CCIW Most Outstanding Wrestlers. His teams have earned eight top-15 national finishes, including seven in the top-10, at the NCAA Championships.

In just his third season as the team's head coach in 2005, Marianetti guided the Bluejays to their then best season in school history. The wrestling team ended the year with a 16-3 record and won their first-ever CCIW Championship. At the NCAA Championships, three Bluejays earned All-America honors while the team finished eighth in the country. Marianetti was named the NWCA Division III Coach of the Year.

In 2012-13, Marianetti topped the 2005 season finish by guiding Elmhurst to its sixth CCIW title and a second-place team finish at the NCAA Championships. Marianetti coached five Bluejays to All-America honors including national championships won by Joe Rau (184 pounds) and Mike Benefiel (197 pounds). Marianetti was named the NWCA Division III Coach of the Year for the second time in his career.

In 2013-14, Marianetti coached Ryan Prater to an undefeated national championship at 149 pounds. Prater became the third Bluejay wrestler in the last two seasons to win an individual NCAA Championship.

In 2012, he guided Elmhurst to its fifth CCIW Championship and a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Championships. Joe Rau and Dalton Bullard both placed third in the nation in their respective weight classes to earn All-America honors.

In 2009, Marianetti directed the Bluejays to a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Championships, establishing the Bluejays' best-ever national finish at the time. Mark Corsello and Jake Oster both earned All-America honors with Oster becoming the first Bluejay to win a national title.

In 2017, Marianetti guided the Bluejays to its seventh CCIW title, earning CCIW Coach of the Year honors for the seventh time in his career. Three Bluejays qualified for the NCAA Championships. In 2018, three Bluejays qualified for the NCAA Championships with Anthony Munoz and Jimmy McAuliffe earning All-America honors. In 2019, Keone Derain became the latest Bluejays' All-American by placing seventh at the NCAA Championship at 157 pounds. During the pandemic shortened season of 2020-21, Marianetti coached McAuliffe to the NWCA Division III Individual Championship at 141 pounds. McAuliffe captured All-America honors again at 141 pounds during the 2022 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships.

A four-time Academic All-Big Ten Conference selection Marianetti is a 1995 graduate of the University of Illinois (UI) with a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing. He earned his master's degree in advertising from Illinois in 2001. He was a first-team GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American in 1995 and was a two-time National Wrestling Coaches Association Academic All-American.

While a member of the UI wrestling team, Marianetti was one of the most decorated athletes at Illinois. He was a three-time All-American and won the NCAA Division I national championship at 150 pounds in 1995. He also held the Illini single-season mark for wins with 44, and ranks second on the school's career wins list with 120.

After graduation, Marianetti continued competing in freestyle wrestling, earning a gold medal at the 1997 Pan-American Championships, silver medals at the 1998 Goodwill Games and World Cup, and a gold medal at the 1998 U.S. National Championships. Marianetti represented the United States at the 1998 World Championships in Tehran, Iran.

Marianetti and his wife, Becky, reside in Elmhurst with their daughters, Abigail and Delia.