Matt Barto starred for four years as a Gannon golfer. Five years after his college career ended, Barto is still contributing to the Golden Knights as an assistant coach.
Barto was a PSAC champion, a four-time PSAC All-Star, a two-time PSAC Champion Scholar, and a three-time Academic All-American during a Gannon playing career that spanned from 2014-18.
He enters his fifth season as an assistant after being a member of the coaching staff from 2018-20 and from 2021-23.
Barto built an impressive list of credentials during his Gannon golf career. He won the PSAC individual title as a freshman in 2014 and was named PSAC Freshman of the Year that season. He also made the first of his four All-PSAC teams that season. He made the PSAC First Team in 2015 and 2018, and he landed a spot on the Second Team in 2016 and 2017.
He qualified for the NCAA Division II National Championships in 2015, advanced to the NCAA Division II Regional in 2017 and made the All-Region First Team in 2018.
In the classroom, Barto claimed Academic All-District First Team honors in 2016, 2017, and 2018. He was an Academic All-American Third Team selection in 2016, and he made Academic All-American Second Team in 2017 and 2018. The PSAC honored him as a Champion Scholar in 2016 and 2017.
He has continued golfing competitively since his Gannon career ended. He won the Erie District Golf Association Match Play title in 2022 after finishing as a runner-up in the event in 2019 and 2020. Â He is a three-time club champion at Willowbrook Country Club in Apollo, Pa., most recently in 2020. He shot a career-low round of 8-under-par 64 at Links at Spring Church in Apollo in 2020 and then topped that in 2022 with an 11-under 61 at The Ridge in Waterford, Pa.
Barto earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Gannon in 2018. Since then, he has held multiple engineering positions at Wabtec Corporation in Erie. He currently works as an Electrical Design Engineer at Wabtec. The Harborcreek Township resident also enjoys cooking and playing disc golf.
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