Nov. 9, 2015
By Ryan Hickey, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ââ'¬" After an outstanding finish to his 2014-15 season, redshirt sophomore Matt McCutcheon enters the 2015-16 season with a resounding confidence at the 184-pound weight class for the Nittany Lions.
McCutcheon posted a 26-14 record last season and made it to the 'Round of 12' at the NCAA Championships.
McCutcheon started off his college career slower than he would have liked, dropping two matches to a pair of the better wrestlers in the country at 184 pounds. After that point, the then-redshirt freshman realized that maybe he wasn't quite where he thought he was at that point in his career. As the season progressed, though, the Apollo, Pa., native adjusted to the collegiate wrestling style, which McCutcheon cited was a big lesson that he learned and one that he can carry over into this season.
"I started getting more confidence and eventually, I did decent at Nationals, but nowhere near where I wanted to be," said McCutcheon. "It's definitely been a learning experience."
Looking back on his freshman season, McCutcheon's biggest takeaway was his confidence. Everything started to click for him at the end of the year, which allowed his mindset to be one that going into matches, he knew he should not only be competing with his opponents, but beating them as well. McCutcheon's confidence was a huge key to his strong finish, as he was just one win away from being named an All-American. Putting in a lot of work in the offseason and in the summer really gave the sophomore a confidence boost on the mat.
McCutcheon focused on a couple of different areas in the offseason to try and improve from last year.
"Getting different attacks was one of my focuses," said McCutcheon. "Another one was getting off the bottom. I struggled with it in the beginning of the year and going into the end of the season, I started getting off, which was something that helped me a lot."
Aside from those focus points, McCutcheon also worked on riding his opponent once he gets position on top. He cited how last season, he allowed too many opponents to get easy escape points and is looking to fix that coming into this season.
There are a plethora of resources that McCutcheon uses in practice to get his game to its peak. Having great coaches to learn from as well as being around decorated wrestlers like David Taylor has really benefitted the sophomore. Coach Casey Cunningham has helped McCutcheon significantly on the technique side and fixing the little details. McCutcheon credits Coach Sanderson for getting him mentally ready each and every day.
McCutcheon's love for the sport serves as his motivation when it comes to match day.
"A lot of people wrestle for different reasons and I do it because I love it," said McCutcheon. "It's fun coming into practice every day and working and getting better. I think that's the one thing I like the most."
Arguably one of the most driven and focused wrestlers on the team, McCutcheon accredits his focus to the fact that he had a chip on his shoulder coming in.
"I wasn't one of the best guys coming in, so I needed to take every advantage I could to get ahead of somebody," said McCutcheon. "Being mentally prepared is huge and most of it comes from our coaches and the way they teach us to prepare for matches."
In addition, the sophomore credits Coach Sanderson for helping the entire team create and attain goals through the idea of vision books, where each wrestler writes down their goals and how they are going to get there.
Last season, McCutcheon was honored with the Kaye Vinson Award Winner for the Most Improved Wrestler. The 184-pounder is honored to be the recipient of this award and credits the coaching staff for getting him to wrestle his best at the end of the season.
"We have one of the best programs that make sure that you're ready by the end of the year and peaking at the right time," said McCutcheon. "I think that it's an attest to the coaches and I think this year, I need to start how I ended."
Looking towards this season, McCutcheon believes both himself and the team can have a big year and are looking forward to getting on the mat and working towards their big goal.
"I think the expectations for both the team and myself are the same: to be national champions," said McCutcheon. "We have a young team, but the team is talented and it's going to be an exciting year."