The following ran in the 2016 Fall ROAR Magazine as a Q&A! While the answers may be from a few years back, these glimpses of Lion student-athletes still resonate as Penn State continues to come together to maintain the bonds that makes Penn State great! #weare!
During his time at Penn State, wrestler Matt McCutcheon was involved in a number of activities off the mat. Along with his role on the Student-Athlete Advisory Board, McCutcheon worked with the Athletic Director's Leadership Institute, Uplifting Athletes and THON.
What are some of the things you're involved in off the mat at Penn State?
One of the main things is SAAB, the Student Athlete Advisory Board. I'm the wrestling rep there. I'm also involved in the Student Welfare Committee inside of SAAB. Another would be the Athletic Director's Leadership Institute. That's something where you basically learn different ways to be a leader and how to better yourself as a leader. Then, for Uplifting Athletes last year, we raised money for patients suffering from rare diseases. It was a nice little fundraiser where we got the student-athletes together and played dodgeball, handball and then a relay race thing. We raised between $1,500-$2,000, so it wasn't bad for the first year. There's another group I'm involved in that I'm a THON Chair for with another guy. We raise money as well as try to get our group involved in THON as much as we possibly can.
What led you to getting involved?
I'm very grateful for the opportunity that I have. I know I'm lucky to be able to compete at Penn State on a wrestling team that won a national title last year. Giving back time or raising money for people who aren't as fortunate as me, it's all about having an attitude and just being grateful.
How do you balance wrestling, schoolwork and volunteering?
I think one of the keys is planning ahead. If you have something that is due at the end of the week, don't wait until the last minute because you never know what's going to pop up with one of your organizations.
What do you do in your limited free time?
I try to hang out with friends and my roommates. I hang out with my girlfriend as much as I can. When we have time, we're usually hanging out watching TV. I like to golf as well, but it's that time where we're not going to be able to golf anymore. I just relax as much as I can.
What's it like to have all of these opportunities available off the mat at Penn State?
It's awesome. You can really get a lot out of Penn State if you put your time into it and really want to meet some people. I'm applying to (chiropractic) schools now and I've been meeting a lot of people who can help me out with that. I'm meeting a bunch of different people who I probably would have never met through different organizations.
What are your goals on and off the mat this year?
I'd say to continue branching out and trying to get involved as much as I can and volunteer my time off the mat, as well as getting into chiropractic school. That's one of my big goals this year. On the mat, my goal is to win a national championship. I think I've been close in the past. I'm right there and I think this summer I put in a lot of work to really help me out this year.
