Matt Clark, son of Joe and Becky Clark, was born and raised near Park Rapids along with brothers Nathan and J.T. and sister Marcy. When Matt was in 5th grade, he wanted to go out for wrestling. But their home was 35 miles from school, so Matt’s dad, a Speech Therapist at Park Rapids Middle School, decided he could stay after school and work in his classroom while Matt was at wrestling practice and then take him home. The middle school coaching staff always welcomed help, so Matt’s dad started volunteering as a wrestling coach even though he had never wrestled a day in his life. Joe Clark (Matt’s dad) has recently retired as Park Rapids Middle School wrestling coach after 30+ years of service. Matt’s mom (Marcy), who taught Social Studies in Alexandria, served as the Park Rapids cheerleading advisor for 15+ years.

Matt participated in both Cross-Country and Wrestling as a 7th grader and had some success as a runner, making the varsity CC team as an eighth grader, but started to focus more on wrestling as he advanced to senior high. Matt made the varsity wrestling team as an eighth grader at 98# and moved up in weight as he got older. Clark qualified for State as a senior at 125# and finished his high school career with 98 wins. Matt is grateful for head coach Pat Costello, a Park Rapids native and positive role model.

After graduating from Park Rapids, Clark enrolled at Moorhead State, where he had the privilege of wrestling under John Sterner and Spencer Yohe. Matt was a four-year letter winner wrestling at 142# and qualified for the National Tournament (getting knocked out in the blood round) as a Senior. One of Matt’s college wrestling highlights came when he was selected to wrestle on an exchange team coached by Spencer Yohe that traveled to Guatemala.

After graduating from Moorhead State, Matt served as a grad assistant at Moorhead, then taught Physical Education and coached wrestling at Greenbush-Middle River-Badger for a year before returning to Park Rapids to teach Physical Education and coach wrestling. Matt served as an assistant to Al Judson for one year before taking over the head wrestling duties, where he has remained for the past 27 years. Park Rapids has garnered 280 wins over that stretch with 50+ State Qualifiers and 21 Place-winners, including three-time State Champion Tyler Safratowich. In addition to coaching during the high school season, Clark has served as a coach for the Minnesota Storm for twenty years and has had the opportunity to take five international tours with the U.S.A. Wrestling, including tours to Bulgaria as well as the PanAm Games in Brazil.

Matt has served as President of the Minnesota Wrestling Coaches Association and has been a Section Rep for the MWCA for many years. Clark also serves on the Minnesota All-State Team Selection Committee and the Minnesota Chapter-National Hall of Fame Committee.