Mike Pucillo, a former wrestler at Ohio State, has come out as gay in a wonderful article by Jason Bryant at The Open Mat. In the piece Pucillo talks about coming out to his friends and family while staying closeted while he was an active NCAA wrestler at Ohio State.
For months, the NCAA wrestling champion from Ohio State had tried time and again to share his biggest secret, but he couldn't bring himself to verbalize two words.
Finally, on a December morning, Pucillo reached for his phone and tapped out a lengthy text message to his best friend and college teammate, Reece Humphrey.
The gist of the message was this: I'm gay.
"I think telling him was an unbelievable weight off my shoulders (and) I didn't think I would feel that good just telling him," said Pucillo, the first openly gay Division-I national champion wrestler. "Reece has always been someone with a very open mind and I thought maybe he would understand."
It's great to see another wrestler come out publicly, even after he's stopped competing. Akil Patterson, former wrestler at the University of Maryland, did so previously. But they are few and far between.
Pucillo wrestled for Ohio State until 2010. He was an All-American and National Champion.
Definitely head over to The Open Mat for the rest of his story.
