TikTok Bachelor, Matt Wurnig, returns to Bismarck as Larks in-game host

BISMARCK, N.D — If you spend your summer nights taking in Larks baseball, you’ll see a familiar face running through the crowd. Matt Wurnig is back in Bismarck this summer as the Larks in-game host after spending two years in a full time role with the organization.

“I was full time then when I was the Director of Fun and Community Impact, and so I was in the office and everything,” he says. “Now, I’m just the on-field host and I help out with some content and some marketing things.”

During the offseason, a phone call with the Larks front office brought Wurnig back to the Capital City. This gave him an opportunity to come back to where it all started.

“I love the Larks has a special place in my heart,” Wurnig says. “It’s been great to coming back and seeing familiar faces with fans and game day staff and interns and just old familiar faces. So, that’s been an awesome part, reconnecting with players, coaches, things like that. I’ve loved seeing how the Larks have grown a bunch. I come back and I’m like, ‘Wow, this has changed. This has changed.’ The Larks have grown, which is awesome.”

While Larks fans know Wurnig for the fun environment he creates at the ballpark his impact goes beyond baseball with a larger audience on social media. In 2020, Wurnig created 50 Dates, 50 States. A virtual dating platform that turned into him hopping in his truck and traveling across the country to go on a date with a girl from every state.

“It all started here in Bismarck when I was working for the Larks for the first time go around, I hopped on the dating app Tinder,” Wurnig says. “It said you can place your location anywhere in the U.S. for free and that’s when I thought of the idea of 50 dates, 50 states. I had no idea what I was doing, but I started throwing out content and things started going viral and started hitting. I started getting a lot of views and exposure, so then I kind of just went all in.”

An idea that blossomed in his Bismarck apartment has turned into something that Wurnig never thought was possible. Over the last four years, he has accumulated over 600 thousand followers and 300 million views on his content.

“It’s been a blast,” says Wurnig. “I would not change it for the world. Seeing the grow from starting it in my little apartment here in Bismarck, North Dakota, and just blossoming into what it is be on our news. Meeting a ton of different people along the way getting sponsorship. It’s been it’s been amazing and just like going on a lot of fun dates and and traveling and seeing the whole U.S. in all 50 states.”

With the growth of 50 dates, 50 states, Wurnig’s been coined as the TikTok Bachelor. Despite the growth of the platform and the gained attention, Wurnig has never forgot where it all began, crediting the Larks for their impact on his brand.

“The Larks definitely helped play a part in my personality and character for sure,” Wurnig says. “When I came out of college and I came here full time, like it’s my first full time job out of college, you know? And so I really opened up as the director of fun, like running around, being entertaining, and I really want to give credit to the Larks with my creativity. They put me in a position where I had to create a lot of different on-field games, in-game promotions, skits, dances, giveaways. And so I think all that creativity really helped keep me sharp and that helped me be creative and making 50 dates, 50 states, and then being creative in that realm.”

While Wurnig loves traveling across the United States, nothing beats the connections he forms with people.

“I think meeting people and being able to relate to people is one of my favorite things in the world,” says Wurnig. “Anybody from any state I can relate to now because I’ve traveled there, I could be like, ‘Oh, I’ve been there.’ Then they’re like, ‘Where at?’ And then I tell them. And then we start having a small talk conversation and I can connect to so many people. So, I love meeting people, connecting people and to share my story because any time I tell people that I’ve traveled to all 50 states and have gone on a date with a different girl in every state, their eyes perk up and they’re kind of like, ‘wait, what have you done?’ And so it’s fun to share my experiences through storytelling and things like that.”

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