Matt Lynch is a native of New Jersey and attended West Milford Township High School from 1969 to 1972. At West Milford, he played football and was the team captain for the wrestling team. After graduating from high school, Lynch attended UNC Pembroke, where he was a four-year starter for the Braves and an NAIA All-American at 126 lbs. in 1975.

Graduating from Pembroke with a degree in Health and Physical Education in 1975, Lynch began his teaching and coaching career at Lumberton Senior High School, where he coached wrestling and football until 1988. He then moved to Terry Sanford High School in Fayetteville, where he served as head wrestling coach, defensive coordinator in football, and one season as head football coach (2004). In 2008, he accepted a position as head wrestling coach and assistant football coach at Gray's Creek High in Hope Mills. In 2015, he retired from coaching, having completed 40 seasons of coaching wrestling and 36 years of coaching football. He retired from Gray's Creek in 2024, concluding a 49-year career in education.

Lynch’s coaching accomplishments include a third-place finish in the NCHSAA state tournament, mentoring over 80 state qualifiers, 18 state placers, and 8 state finalists. Lynch was named Southeastern 4-A Conference Wrestling Coach of the Year in 1984 and Mid-South 4-A Conference Wrestling Coach of the Year in 1994. He coached with the Pythons Wrestling Club in Fayetteville and was the director of Parks and Recreation wrestling camps for school-age wrestlers from 1994-1997. He was a Team North Carolina coach at the National Championships in Cedar Falls, Iowa in 1987 and 1989. Lynch was inducted into the UNC Pembroke Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011 and the North Carolina Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2012.