Matt Snyder begins his first season as director of student-athlete development with George Mason wrestling for the 2017-18 season.
Snyder is a native of Lewistown, PA., where he was a three-time place winner (3rd,3rd,2nd) at the Pennsylvania AAA State Wrestling Tournament. A four-year starter at the University of Virginia, Snyder placed second in the 133-pound weight class at the 2010 ACC wrestling tournament and helped the team capture their first ACC title in 33 years.
In the 3 seasons that followed, Snyder nabbed another runner up finish in 2011 and was the ACC Champion at 125-pounds in 2012. He was a three-time NCAA qualifier at 125-pounds, falling in the round of twelve twice (2011 & 2013) at the championships.
Snyder finished his career with 99 wins, with 33 of those wins coming by fall. He was honored to serve as a captain of the team his final two seasons and is very proud that his team held the highest GPA across men’s sports in multiple semesters at UVA.
In 2012, Snyder was the recipient of the Gus Tebel memorial Award at UVA, which is given to the senior male UVA student-athlete with the highest career cumulative GPA. He was also named ACC Wrestling Scholar Athlete of the year twice, as well as a two-time member of the Capitol One Academic All-America Third Team (2012, 2013).
Snyder earned in his Bachelor’s degree in exercise physiology in 2012 and completed a Master’s in the same subject in 2013 from UVA. He had the opportunity to live on UVA’s historic Academic Village “The Lawn” in 2012 and still cherishes this experience because he was able to share it with his teammates as well as make life-long friends in the process. At graduation in 2013, Snyder was awarded the university’s Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award for character, integrity and service.
From 2013-2014, Snyder remained in Charlottesville to work with the UVA chapter of Athletes in Action, a national Christian athletic ministry. He was able to invest a lot of time and resources into mentoring former teammates and other athletes, helping them navigate the uncertainties of college athletics, academics, social, and spiritual life.
In 2014, Snyder moved to Washington, DC to start medical school at George Washington University and he is currently working toward his life-long goal of becoming a physician and upon graduation in May 2018, he will pursue a career in Pediatrics.
He is the son of Glenn and Lisa Snyder, who still reside in Lewistown, PA. His sister, Lyndsey, is married to George Mason head coach Frank Beasley and he is very excited to now have them and their children in the DC area. He loves spending time with his nephew and niece, brewing and roasting coffee with his Dad, and traveling across the world to visit his close friends.
