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Discussion Topic: Matt Stout to be honored
Doug Brandt added to this discussion on June 25, 2015

http://bearalums.com/Traditions062415.htm

OUTSTANDING AND DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI
Each year, the UA Alumni Association presents awards to selected alumni. These three award recipients will be honored in the 4th of July parade again at the UACA Party in the Park at Northam Park that night, at approximately 7:30 pm.

A Distinguished Alumnus is an alum who is honored for his or her personal, educational, or career achievement. This year's Distinguished Alumnus is Dr. Stephen Hinshaw, Class of 1970.

An Outstanding Alumnus is an alum who has generously dedicated his or her time to the service of the Upper Arlington Alumni Association and its mission. This year's Outstanding Alumni are Andrew Geistfeld and Matt Stout, both Class of 1990.


MATT STOUT, Class of 1990
Matt Stout graduated from Upper Arlington in 1990 and then continued his studies at the University of Michigan Business School, where he graduated with distinction in 1995. At Michigan, he was wrestling captain and a three-time letter winner. From there, he moved back to Columbus to complete his MBA and J.D. at The Ohio State University and is now a partner at Brick and Eckler specializing in Public Sector, Public Finance and Education K-12. Matt serves as a trustee for the Ohio Governance and Finance Officers Association, is a member of both the Education Committee for the Ohio Government and Finance Officers Association. He is the President of the University of Michigan Alumni Club of Central Ohio. Locally in Upper Arlington, Matt has taken his passion for wrestling and re-invested it in the program by serving as director of the UA Mat Cubs Wrestling Program from 1999-2011 when he left that position to become the head coach for the high school wrestling team IN ADDITION to working his "day job" as an attorney.

Matt also currently serves as the President of the Upper Arlington Education Foundation. During his time as a trustee of the UAEF, Matt has served on the Governance Committee, the Financial Committee and chairs the Volunteer Committee for the annual fundraiser, the Golden Bear Bash!

Matt is a graduate of the Leadership UA Program and has also served as a football coach for the Upper Arlington youth football program. Matt also serves as a board member for the Upper Arlington City Schools Business Advisor Council.

UAAA congratulates Matt Stout on his dedication to the Upper Arlington Schools, UAEF, and the community as we recognize him with the 2015 UAAA Outstanding Alumnus Award.



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Discussion Topic: Matt Stout to be honored
Doug Brandt added to this discussion on June 26, 2015

Rex- comment?



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Discussion Topic: Matt Stout to be honored
Bill Splete added to this discussion on June 27, 2015

It's great to see Matt living up to expectations, what I mean by that, every time I was around him(not much, but enough) you always got the feeling that he was smarter than you, not in an arrogant way, but simply more intelligent. You new he was going to be a success, and he is. Wanted to congratulate him.



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Discussion Topic: Matt Stout to be honored
Rex Holman added to this discussion on June 28, 2015

I saw this in the UA News the other day. Stout is a great guy. We have been friends for a long time. Caught up with him a bit this past week at the UA camp. I have tried to get him on the .Net, but he admits that he would spend way too much time on here and that is his reason for not participating. He deserves an award for the amount of time, energy and resources he puts into wrestling. I just wish he had some more kids with the talent and drive to give him the state placers and champions that he wants. As far as community goes, this guy is a concrete pillar.



Bill-
It's ok, he comes across as arrogant. It is because he is confident and has the drive to make a dent in the world.


Separate post
Wrestling is hard work (labor) and it does not appeal to a lot of kids. There are a lot of sports that are less labor intensive that bring about the type of status and adoration that most kids want.



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Discussion Topic: Matt Stout to be honored
Doug Brandt added to this discussion on July 4, 2015

Matt Stout was further recognized for his Upper Arlington Outstanding Alumni award by riding in the UA Fourth of July parade today.

Did anyone else see him?



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Discussion Topic: Matt Stout to be honored
Mark Niemann added to this discussion on July 8, 2015

I did not see him at the parade (I was not present) but I did want to send along a congratulations to Matt. Quite an honor.



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Discussion Topic: Matt Stout to be honored
Michael Rodriguez added to this discussion on July 8, 2015

First off, congratulations on a well deserved award. That being said...

I had a question. Stout was was a very good wrestler...runner-up in DI as a junior in a competitive finals bout. He was aggressive and impressive at St. John. He was ranked number one senior season, and I watched him closely at Bruzwick that year, he didn't seem like the same wrestler. This was a different era. A runner-up finish as a junior almost guaranteed a championship your senior season. Does anyone (Mr Holman???) know what happened? The weight was wide open, with Shane Duncan winning the title, who, in my mind, was not the wrestler Stout was. The weight was littered with guys who, while talented, had never been there before. Stout didn't place. Again, what happened? I'm asking this from a place of complete respect. I've said more than once that we saw UA at Brunzwick every year and, while I was a Holman fan, I thought they were all well coached. He was a guy I followed and admired and watched and then he had this awful State Tourney his senior season. He won Districts coming out of Columbus beating the like of Jeff Benjamin (champ the next season). He got a rough draw with Nathanson in the first round (Hank, thoughts?). Was it a "follow your man" issue? Was it a bad weight cut? Was it the 103 to 112 jump? A Just a bad day? Any insight? It was from my era and I was just wondering.



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Discussion Topic: Matt Stout to be honored
Rex Holman added to this discussion on July 8, 2015

I'll talk to Stout and see if he would like to offer some insight.



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Discussion Topic: Matt Stout to be honored
Rex Holman added to this discussion on July 13, 2015

Per Stout,

First, thanks to Doug Brandt on posting. I don’t know Doug, or how he found out about this honor. I was trying to fly under the radar but he busted my cover. In any case, thanks!



Second, to Rex, thanks for lying and saying I’m a good guy. That’s what 30 plus years of friendship will get you. Also, as he correctly notes, I’m not on here because I can’t imagine how much time I would spend as evidenced by the length of this indirect post.



Third, to Bill Splete, glad to hear you are alive buddy. I haven’t seen you in about 24 years. I hope you are doing well.



Now, as to Michael’s questions:



I didn’t place in 1990 because I never had the chance thanks to the wrestle back system. I lost in the quarters, and the person who beat me lost in the semis, and I was buried. Of course, they changed the wrestle-back system the following year to semi-final follow your man. Fitting since I got eliminated three of four years at the state tournament that way.



As to what happened at the state tournament that year, well, the simple answer is that I choked. I wrestled the best I had all year at the District but when I got to the State, I put too much pressure on myself in pursuit of a seven year goal, cracked mentally, and wrestled not to lose.



As to what happened on a larger scale, well, that is a more difficult question to answer. As Michael correctly notes, back then a returning state runner-up and three time qualifier was considered a good bet to win a state title the following year. But I never got on track my senior year. I was clearly strongest on my feet and I went through a couple of “slumps” in that position where it seemed like I couldn’t take anyone down. Since I wasn’t the strongest mat wrestler (something I should have focused on improving between my junior and senior year), I needed to excel on my feet to beat the best kids. It all resulted in me losing four times in the regular season, including an awful performance at Brunswick when I lost twice and finished 4th. Even though all of the losses were at 119 (and I wrestled at 112 at the State) to decent kids, each chipped away at my confidence.



Plus, there was the case of my quarterfinal opponent, Aaron Armstrong (Fairborn), who I had beaten a couple of times before, including in the first round of the 1989 State Tournament, 13-3. Even though I had beaten him before, he had gotten the better of me in a workout at Dernlan’s Garage about six weeks before the State. We all know match situations are a lot different from practice situations, and everybody has bad practices. But it still didn’t help my psyche. And it certainly couldn’t have hurt his. So even though I crushed everyone at the District that year, I had a fair amount of self-doubt harbored in the back of my mind once I got to the State.



That was evident in the first match against Peter Nathanson when I was winning only 2-1 going the third period and ended up winning 9-2. Nathanson would be a state champ in 1992 but he was only a sophomore in 1990 with no trips to the state tournament under his belt. Perhaps that was a tough draw, as Michael notes, but to me, Nathanson was just the kid who finished 3rd at Mentor and was barely mentioned in the Brakeman. I expected to win by a lot more. In the quarters, I was losing 3-1 with a minute to go when I got in deep on a single, did a sloppy finish, and got thrown to my back and stuck. If I recall correctly, Armstrong had a stall call on him at the time and was running out of steam. But I’m not sure because I have never watched the tape. Whatever the case, Armstrong lost to eventual champ Shane Duncan 6-4 in the semis and I was out (Armstrong caught Duncan on his back and almost pinned him as well). The good news is that 25 years later, I am over it. Or not. I am sure many on this forum, including Michael, can relate.



If there is a silver lining (there isn’t), the bad state tournament was probably directly responsible for me going to Michigan, where I had wanted to go since I was 8, and getting to wrestle for the two best coaches I ever had – the late Joe Wells and Joe McFarland. After I lost, the recruiters stop calling so there was no option of going to the place that offered the most money. Because there wasn’t any money being offered.



Anyway, that’s a long-winded answer and probably a lot more information than anybody cared to know.



Go Blue!



MLS



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Discussion Topic: Matt Stout to be honored
Brian Nicola added to this discussion on July 13, 2015

I'll say this about Matt..I have really gotten to know him over the last 6-7 years. He's a great guy and we love to get this banter going back-and-forth.

He is very deserving of this (and any) award....his contribution to Upper Arlington in many, many areas is unreal. He knows how to get things done and gets them done.

I would love to see all the UA wrestlers buy in to the level that Matt has...as a wrestler, as a community member and as a head coach. If they did, the Bears would be very tough to beat.



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Discussion Topic: Matt Stout to be honored
Mark Niemann added to this discussion on July 13, 2015

Fantastic post, Matt! I loved it.



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Discussion Topic: Matt Stout to be honored
Doug Brandt added to this discussion on July 13, 2015

One of my high school classmates, Ellen Isaly Clark, has designed two terrific web sites that I go to on occasion: www.ua69.com and www.bearalums.com.

It was on the bearalums site that I saw mention of the Distinguished and Outstanding Alumnus awards.

Although I didn't know Matt, I thought his UA connection and wrestling background might interest Rex, along with some of the other posters.

http://www.bearalums.com/HonoredAlums.htm



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Discussion Topic: Matt Stout to be honored
Michael Rodriguez added to this discussion on July 14, 2015

Matt...Thank you for the thoughtful response. I don't know about anyone else, but I didn't find it long winded or too much information. To be honest, it was exactly what I was looking for when I asked the questions. I think people forget how tough it is to succeed at that level for a high school kid...all the things that can go wrong and throw you off. If you're not a Jaggers or a Schlatter, we're talking about a razor thin window where everything has to fall your way. Things are delicate. There's an element of luck to it as well.

Thanks for being honest. You should totally be posting on this forum.



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