Minneota head wrestling coach Matt Myrvik has been involved in Minneota athletics his entire life. He grew up wrestling under long-time Minneota wrestling coach Joel Skillings. Before he graduated from high school, he started the transition into coaching. This year, he took on the task of replacing a Minnesota coaching legend – Skillings. How does Myrvik plan on keeping the Minneota Vikings’ wrestling legacy going? He will continue to make the program focus on team – from the highest levels of the program to the last wrestler in the youth program.
“I started wrestling around third grade,” Myrvik said. “I don’t know how I got into it, probably there just wasn’t much to do at the time. I don’t think basketball started until 4th grade, so I tried wrestling. My family didn’t have much to do with wrestling, I just kind of found it.”
“I wasn’t the greatest wrestler,” Myrvik admitted. “I liked the hard work and that it was up to you how good you were going to be. The coaches I grew up with – Coach Skillings and some of the youth coaches at the time – did an outstanding job helping the program grow. I was fortunate to make the state tournament as a senior. I always had a winning record, but our section was tough. A lot of it was team-related for us, and that was the reason I was involved with it.”
Myrvik was involved in coaching even before he made the state tournament.