Description

Matt is an NCAA wrestling official that has worked 12 D1 NCAA Wrestling Championships and officiated in the NCAA Finals 7 of those times. Before reaching the highest echelons of wrestling officiating, Matt came from a wrestling family. Matt grew up around wrestling because his father was a coach.  After winning a New York State Championship title, Matt attended Ithaca College where he continued his winning ways. While at Ithaca Matt qualified for the NCAA Wrestling Tournament 4x and was an All-American 2x. After his competitive career, he did some coaching and officiating, but ultimately Matt chose to officiate because it allowed him more freedom with his work and family schedule. The rest is history. In this episode we talk about:

• 0:46 - About Matt outside of wrestling
• 1:45 - Matt’s Wrestling Story
• 4:56 - When Matt realized he "liked" wrestling 
• 7:21 - You don’t know what you have until it’s gone (wrestling that is) 
• 13:46 - NCAA wrestling coaches say the darnedest things 
• 20:21 - Ithaca is a great place to be a student-athlete 
• 24:05 - Matt’s Cary Kolat story 
• 30:00 - The US Women’s team is amazing 
• 36:27 - Growing the sport and getting more officials 
• 40:42 -  “Listen, it’s a tough sport…” 
• 42.00  - Wrestlers in Business 
• 44.20 - Best college wrestling dual crowds? 
• 45:50 - Snyder vs. Coon in 2018 50:00 - Bonus Content - The 2 mindsets of effective officials