Dylan Geick, a senior at Stevenson (Lincolnshire, Ill.), is one of the best wrestlers in his state. He recently placed fourth at 160 pounds at the all-state meet and is headed to Columbia University in the fall, where he will be part of the Lions’ wrestling team.
Geick is also gay. Outsports has the story.
Last year, a couple weeks after beginning to date his boyfriend, Geick told Outsports his story of coming out to those closest to him.
“I really didn’t like having to sneak around,” Geick told Outsports, “so I came out to the kids at my lunch table one day after last season.
“It kind of exploded from there.”
A wrestler that many on his team and in the state look up to, Geick has been “the face of the program” at his high school for the last two years, Stevenson coach Shane Cook told the Chicago Tribune last week.
Last year, he was fourth in the 152-pound class. As a sophomore at Vernon Hills before he transferred to Stevenson, Geick finished second in the North Suburban Prairie and the Class 2A Vernon Hills Regional at 145 pounds.
“He’s an incredible athlete,” Cook said of Geick last year to the Chicago Tribune, according to Outsports. “He has great wrestling speed, is very strong, extremely talented.
“He has a dynamic personality. People are drawn to him.”
Geick got a good read on the environment at Stevenson when he arrived at the school in 2015.
“It’s an amazing environment [coach Cook] has put together,” Geick told the Tribune. “The motto for Stevenson wrestling is ‘Always Together.’ We live it, we share it. We’re a family.”
And Geick is as strong a member of the family as anybody. This season, he was 42-3 on the mat.
You can read more of Outsports’ fantastic feature on Geick here.