Meet Openly Gay Wrtler Dylan Watson - Athlete Ally

high school wrestling is gay

Beg more faiar wh the gay history of wrtlg mak one realize what a different product would be today whout gay culture.

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STEVENSON WRTLER DYLAN GEICK: 'I AM NOT ALONE' AS A GAY HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE

Stevenson's Dylan Geick, a two-time state placer wrtlg, is part of a small but growg group of out gay high school and llege athlet. * high school wrestling is gay *

Last May, Dylan Geick was havg lunch wh some iends at Stevenson when the talk turned to the news that a fellow stunt had jt e out as gay. "Geick — now a senr bound for Columbia Universy and a two-time state placer for Stevenson's wrtlg team — is not the only Chigo-area high school athlete to e out as and cross-untry nner Konrad Eirg, now a sophomore petg at Illois, also me out as a junr at Barrgton and Geick are part of a small but growg number of out athlet at the high school and llege levels.

But he also n't rell not feelg fortable wh the ia of beg gay. Probably by sophomore year, I knew and had e to terms wh by junr year.

"She said, 'Too bad, he's probably gay, '" Geick relled.

THIS ELE ILLOIS HIGH SCHOOL WRTLER IS PROUDLY GAY

when i wrtle one boy School who is Bigger than me he Ps me down and b My dick until s rock hard. Then he tease me i am gay. Its really embarrassg. * high school wrestling is gay *

"Once I me here, I never had a problem wh gay people.

GAY HIGH SCHOOL WRTLER ME OUT TO HIS TEAM, THEN REACHED THE STATE FAL

I'm talkg about high school/ llege wrtlg, not pro wrtlg. Many people ll gay. I would like to know why. I personally disagree. I am * high school wrestling is gay *

But was hard to image one of my bt iends beg gay. "I don't thk he's a bad kid and I don't thk he's homophobic. Columbia wrtlg ach Zach Tanelli was among those who learned Geick was gay om the Outsports story.

It was only a uple weeks after startg to date his boyiend that Stevenson High School’s gay star wrtler, Dylan Geick, cid the closet wasn’t for him. When he me out surprised some people that this ele wrtler was gay.

He was a nference nner-up as a sophomore.

THIS GAY HIGH SCHOOL WRTLER FOUND STRENGTH HIS SPORT AFTER FACG HARASSMENT

A New Jersey youth wrtlg ach and former state champn who ma headl for beg the NCAA’s first openly gay llege wrtler is facg child pornography charg. * high school wrestling is gay *

“It jt 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 iends, and we are much closer even now, ” Geick told his school newspaper, The Statman. Sce that day, Geick hasn’t heard a sgle homophobic ment om his teammat. Even his petors have stayed away om harassg him about beg gay.

The entire regular season had gone by whout an cint, but headg to the state meet a petg wrtler tracked down Geick’s Instagram acunt and cid to leave a bg msage about Geick beg gay. Geick ma his beg gay pretty clear last June when he posted this Instagram picture om pri (that’s Geick on the left, while his boyiend, Grant, is plantg the kiss):.

Sce then he’s been unabashed about beg gay and sharg photos of himself and Grant, cludg this post om his homeg last fall, wh his boyiend by his si:. Now Geick hop that by sharg his story he n help other gay athlet feel like they are not alone. “I really didn’t know any gay wrtlers.

NCAA’S FIRST PUBLICLY GAY WRTLER HAS HAD UPS AND DOWNS

Meet Dylan Watson, an openly gay llege wrtler who found solace, muny and acceptance wrtlg and his teammat. * high school wrestling is gay *

The first thg I Googled was ‘NCAA gay wrtlg’ and that was the article I found. Why do people thk wrtlg is gay?

The two-year pta of the Meadowdale High School wrtlg team had heard enough of the homophobia tossed around the locker room. Certaly word had spread through the high school that one of the school’s bt athlet was gay. They were whisperg about him beg gay.

Ball lled the 30 or so wrtlers together and talked wh them about beg gay, rpectg one another, and cuttg out the language the locker room that did ltle more than divi them. Ball said the e of slurs and other sensive “gay talk” was virtually elimated overnight after his nversatn wh the team.

IS WRTLG "GAY"?

We make a list of gay wrtlers rangg om high school, llege, universy grapplers to pennt wrtlers, to ternatnal fighters, to WWE superstars. * high school wrestling is gay *

However, he ntued to hear slurs and other anti-gay language om opposg wrtlers at meets. In addn to beg a standout athlete and team pta at his high school, he’s also the vice-print of the stunt body, print of the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance, and volunteers for the lol labor unn durg electns.

As the years passed by, Kehagias, now an anthlogist who liv Chandler, got to know his mentor like so few 22 years later, after much proddg om Kehagias, they are tellg the story that Shegog was too aaid to tell his wrtlers: That he is gay. At 103 pounds, he won one match at state his sophomore year, placed send his junr year and won state his senr year. "If people knew that he was gay, there was a good chance he wouldn't have been able to teach, " Kehagias said.

In the ach' room, Shegog said sometim ach would joke about gay people, and make negative ments. "I didn't want to s there and listen to the gay jok.

MEET OPENLY GAY WRTLER DYLAN WATSON

He mentned some people on mp, if they knew he was gay, they would go after his job. Eslante knew there were other teachers the district who were gay and lived wh the fear of beg outed and attacked. "His beg gay had nothg to do wh the iendship.

And are set to wrtle at No Peace Unrground’s Fear The Gay Agenda event on June 11. There have been tim I’ve intified as gay, bi, pan, ace, and others, ” he said. Some of my teammat high school would "joke" around about me beg gay, makg gay jok and llg me nam.

Toward the end of my sophomore year I told my parents I wanted to take a break om wrtlg, that I wanted to tch up on school. I was also very hant to jo the wrtlg team bee I was sred of what the wrtlers’ reactns would be when they found out I was gay.

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I asked one of them what he thought when he first found out I was gay.

What really ma me feel accepted was when we were at a dual meet, and the guy I was gog to wrtle said somethg about me beg gay. It mak me a better person and mak me a stronger gay man, every day. Sce then, the NCAA’s first publicly gay wrtler has experienced a wi-range of triumphs and tribulatns: he’s been redshirted, lost his scholarship, transferred lleg and served as an unofficial unselor for other stgglg gay teens — jt like him.

He heard homophobic language his entire life, g om his fay members and classmat.

WRTLG’S GAY HISTORY AND OPTIMISTIC FUTURE

Stgglg wh his sexual orientatn, Donovan told his father he was gay the heat of an unrelated argument.

Much like his son, Tom Donovan feared beg publicly gay would create imperable obstacl. For an openly gay teenager g to his own, gog to llege the diverse haven of California — San Luis Obispo is halfway between LGBTQ mecs Los Angel and San Francis — seems like a dream e te. Off the mat, he enuntered homophobia om select classmat, brgg back paful memori.

GAY MMA ACH AND A CHAMPN WRTLER WS TOUGHT BATTLE BY G OUT

Gay ». Then he tease me i am gay.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING IS GAY

Wrtlg's Gay History and Optimistic Future - Pro Wrtlg Stori .

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