Army's Matt Kyler
In the summer of 2006, Matt Kyler enrolled at West Point expecting to be the Black Knights 125lber. Fast forward three years and a couple of growth spurts later and Kyler is now Army's 149lber. The rapid weight gain has not affected Matt's wrestling abilities, as he is a 3x EIWA Conference Finalist and a 2008 All-American. Kyler enters his senior season ranked #10 in the nation by D1CW and spoke to us about a variety of topics..
D1CW: Matt, we are about a month away from the start of your senior season, what are you looking to accomplish?
Matt Kyler: My goal at the beginning of the season, like most other guys who have had some success at the collegiate level, is a National Championship. It has always been a goal of mine, to be a National Champion. I want to be able to stand on the top of the podium in Omaha.
D1CW: Is there anything specific that you wanted to focus on improving this offseason?
MK: One of the things I worked on, that I didn't do as well as I could have last season, is to be aggressive. I won't say I was scared to attack, but I didn't go after guys like I should have. I think that one of my strongest areas is my scrambling ability. I want to be able to put myself in situations where I can take advantage of scrambles. I also worked on my setups and being proactive with them. Specifically my outside control setups. I'm very comfortable working from inside control, so I wanted to focus on the outside control where I am not as strong.
D1CW: Do you enter this season with a "chip on your shoulder"? In the 2008 season you earned All-American honors, last year you came up a bit short...
MK: I think there's definitely a bit of that with me. I felt like I could have AA'ed again. I just didn't wrestle as well as I should have and that was very disappointing. Now I'm looking at it as a motivation for this year. I don't dwell on it, but it certainly is there in the back of my mind. It was hard to look back at those matches. When I do things wrong I try to look back and analyze why I didn't perform as well as I am capable of. However, it was just hard watching it all again.
D1CW: I have to ask "What happened"? I remember watching you win a Pennsylvania State Title at 103lbs in your junior season of high school. Now a couple of years later you are at 149...
MK: Overall I was very small in high school. I wasn't physically mature yet. I'm not young for my grade, but I also wasn't held back like some kids were. That season when I wrestled 103, I was wearing a size 11 1/2 shoe. I just never had hit a growth spurt. My senior season I knew I wanted to wrestle 119, as I was trying to work my way up to 125 for college. By the end of the year, 119 was getting hard to make. Once I got here I kept gaining weight, most Cadets end up losing weight, but not me. It was just my time to grow. I started my freshman season wrestling at 133. However, I came back from Christmas Break 12lbs over 133. We had two-a-day's and other workouts and the weight just wouldn't come off. Coach Barbee then asked me to wrestle 141 on our trip to Texas. I did that and perfomed relatively well against good competition. Since then I have been lifting a lot and still put on weight.
D1CW: For the people who have not seen you wrestle, can you describe your style of wrestling?
MK: I was always taught to be "hard-nosed", kind of the Pennsylvania way. I was also taught that every point counts, so I will fight for every point. I never got into the whole "Take Him Down, Let Him Up" style, not that I'm not good on my feet, I just feel comfortable in all three positions. If I'm able to get a takedown and ride the other guy out for the remainder of the period, that's fine. I just want to make the other guys work hard for anything on bottom.
I've heard coaches tell their wrestlers to move their feet, but I feel like when my hands are moving I'm at my best. When that happens I'm able to put pressure on the other guy's head, maybe use my snapdown and make him make a mistake.
D1CW: What is your outlook for the Army team this year?
MK: We have the potential to be very strong this year. I don't think that we will have any weights that are really weak. I'd lookout for my training partner, Casey Thome, our 141lber. He was having a good season last year, but he got hurt near the end of the season. Also Richard Starks, at 197, is expecting to have a huge year.
D1CW: For those of us who are unfamiliar with the life of a student at a service academy.. What are some of the responsibilities you have at West Point, that other student athletes may not have?
MK: West Point is a special place. They are training people to become leaders. It is not just about the academics either. They are developing people who are hard workers, physically fit, and have a moral compass. The one word I would use to sum it all up is regimented.
On a normal day I wake up at 6:15 for a mandatory formation at 6:50 and then we march to breakfast at 7:00. Every other day I have classes which start at 7:30 and go all morning. Every other day I have a lab in the afternoon. On the days which I don't have a lab, I have a few extra hours, I use those to either go lift weights or get an extra practice in. After practice and dinner I will sometimes have responsibilities within my company. I am in charge of analyzing the performance of Cadets in detail.
D1CW: Coming out of High School, why did you choose West Point?
MK: I grew up about 45 minutes away from State College and took a visit to Penn State. I liked the school and felt comfortable with the coaching staff and thought I was going to go there. When I was younger, maybe in middle school I thought that I wanted to come to West Point, but then I think I grew out of it in 9th or 10th grade. When it was time to talk to colleges Coach Barbee recruited me, so I sort of went on my recruiting trip because my parent wanted me to. They knew I thought about it when I was younger. Once I got here, met the guys on the team and walked around the campus, I felt like I fit in immediately. I knew that this was a special place. It was a hard decision picking West Point over Penn State, but I knew coming here that I was putting myself in the best position to be successful, not only in wrestling and school, but for the rest of my life.
D1CW: When and why did you begin wrestling?
MK: My dad never wrestled but he always like it. My high school has a very strong wrestling tradition, we have the most State Champions in the state of Pennsylvania. My dad watched his friends wrestle and kept going to the matches after he was out of school. He took me for the first time when I was like 8 months. I was exposed to it a lot over my first couple of years. Once I was 5, I wanted to start myself, so I went to a program once a week on Saturdays. Slowly I got more involved. I think I tried all of the sports my school offered (Baseball, Football, Soccer) but wrestling was always my favorite. I think I was 11 or 12 when I decided that I wanted to be a successful wrestler.
D1CW: Thanks Matt!! Good Luck this Season!