Matt Cannella serves as the Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Medicine at Northwest Missouri State University. Cannella took over the head athletic trainer position July 1, 2021.
Cannella joined the Bearcat athletic training staff in the summer of 2019 as an assistant athletic trainer.
He works primarily with the Bearcat football and baseball teams. He also serves as an instructor within Northwest Missouri State University’s School of Health Science and Wellness department where he teaches a Care and Prevention of Athletic Injuries course.
Cannella comes to Northwest from Newberry College in South Carolina where he worked with the Wolves men’s basketball, football, tennis and golf teams. Prior to Newberry College, he worked as an athletic trainer with Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas. He provided athletic training services for Criss Angel MindFreak Live!, as well as “O” at the Bellagio.
Cannella served as a seasonal assistant athletic trainer for the Detroit Lions for the 2015 season, as well as a student intern with the New York Giants for the 2012 season.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in athletic training from Kean University in 2013 and graduated magna cum laude. He completed his master’s eegree in athletic training with a concentration in orthotic fabrication and brace fitting from West Virginia University in 2015. As a graduate assistant, he worked for HealthWorks Rehab and Fitness and served as the head athletic trainer for North Marion High School.
Cannella holds several certifications including Gaston Technique M1, Myofascial Decompression Level 1, Integrative Dry Needling, Blood Flow Restriction Training and Functional Movement Screens Level 1. Matt also brings extensive experience with a variety of soft tissue techniques, Mulligan Mobilizations, Joint Mobilizations and MET.
He and his wife, Rebecca, reside in Maryville, with their son, Michael, their daughter Charlotte, as well as their dog, Seger, and cats, Hoyt and Jackson.
