Meet Dylan Geick, the Out High School Wrestler Inspiring Us All

Dylan Geick is a high school senior making waves in the competitive wrestling scene not only for his incredible athleticism, but also for his bravery to publicly come out as gay. 

 

A post shared by Dylan Steven Geick (@dylangeick) on Feb 28, 2016 at 6:16pm PST

As the face of the Adlai E. Stevenson High School wrestling team for over two years, Dylan embodied all of the ideals of a successful (straight) athlete: strong, masculine, tough, scrappy, agile, and fit. So when he came out to his close friends at lunch one day, word spread like wildfire, shocking his classmates, his teammates, and even his coach.

“Some people could have been uncomfortable if they knew they were wrestling someone who was gay,” Geick told Statesman, the student news publication of Stevenson High. “But what they don’t understand is that this is a sport and is completely removed from that.”

Luckily for Geick (and maybe humanity on a larger level), Geick’s teammates embraced him whole-heartedly.

He continued:

"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."

 

A post shared by Dylan Steven Geick (@dylangeick) on Feb 15, 2017 at 6:07pm PST

With a boyfriend on his arm, and a scholarship to Columbia University to wrestle, Dylan has a bright future ahead of him—one that doesn’t include any negativity. 

 

A post shared by Dylan Steven Geick (@dylangeick) on Nov 14, 2016 at 5:57pm PST

h/t: OutSports