Dylan GeickIt's been an incredible week for Dylan Geick.
The senior wrestler at Stevenson High School in suburban Chicago placed fourth in the Class 3A 160-pound bracket at the Illinois state wrestling championships this past weekend. Then, on Thursday, Geick, who will be wrestling for Columbia University this fall, was the subject of a profile at a leading gay website.
In Outsports.com's feature titled "This elite Illinois high school wrestler is proudly gay" Geick revealed that he first came out to friends at their lunch table at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Ill. last year. Soon after, Geick came out to his wrestling coach and teammates.
"That tight family atmosphere has helped lead to Geick's sexual orientation being widely accepted by his teammates and coaching staff," Outsports.com's Cyd Zeigler wrote. "For the record, Geick said he hadn't heard a single negative reaction from a teammate or coach since he came out to them. Not one."
Geick said many of the reasons he waited so long to come out as gay was not wanting to disrupt the positive team environment ... and over concerns about the intense physical contact that is intrinsic to the sport.
"Some people could have been uncomfortable if they knew they were wrestling someone who was gay," Geick told The Statesman, Stevenson's student newspaper, last week. "But what they don't understand is that this is a sport and is completely removed from that."
Geick said he didn't receive a single negative response from members of the team. His relationships with his teammates never wavered.
"It just so happened that all of those kids, even those who maybe had a homophobic view before were able to see past that, and are still my friends, and we are much closer even now," Geick said.
In addition, when Geick revealed his orientation to the wrestlers and coaches of the Columbia Lions wrestling program during his visit to the New York City campus, he was warmly received.
In fact, Geick told Outsports.com that his entire senior season had gone by without incident, except for one issue heading into the state championships: a rival wrestler left a "biting" message about Geick's orientation on the Stevenson mat star's Instagram account.
"To be honest, it fired me up, and I focused it into the match," Geick disclosed to Outsports.com.
"I blew that kid out when we got on the mat."
Geick hopes that by sharing his story, he can help other gay athletes realize they are not alone.
A year ago, as he struggled to come to terms with who he is, Geick came across the story of Mike Pucillo, 2008 NCAA wrestling champ for Ohio State, who came out publicly last March in an interview with award-winning wrestling journalist Jason Bryant.
"I really didn't know any gay wrestlers," Geick told Outsports.com. "The first thing I Googled was 'NCAA gay wrestling' and that was the article I found. So it's cool that I get to share my story.
"I hope I can have the same effect on a high school kid."
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now