'You're always working': How growing up on a dairy farm shaped Oklahoma State wrestler Dakota Geer
STILLWATER — Growing up, Dakota Geer’s days began around 4 a.m.
Along with his parents and two siblings, Geer would help milk the 250 cows on the family’s dairy farm in Franklin, Pennsylvania.
After milking came feeding the cows, chopping corn, throwing hay, and by 4 p.m., another round of milking.
“That milking takes until about 7 or 8, then you go in, have some dinner, go to bed, and do it again,” Geer said.
Now a sixth-year senior on the Oklahoma State wrestling team, Geer’s dairy farming days are well behind him.
“Dairy farming, doing it as a kid growing up, you either love it or you hate it,” he said. “And I hated it, so I’m gonna stay as far away from that as I can after college.”
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Geer was planning to see his family this weekend, when fourth-ranked OSU was originally scheduled to wrestle against West Virginia in Morgantown — less than three hours away from his hometown.
But West Virginia canceled the tri-meet that included the Cowboys and Columbia University, so instead, Columbia is coming to Stillwater to face OSU at 2 p.m. Sunday inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. The dual will not be televised.
Geer is ranked 10th nationally at 184 pounds with a 7-1 record this season, putting some of the dairy farming traits he learned to use on the mat.
“Growing up on a dairy farm, I feel like you learn hard work and grinding through things,” Geer said. “There’s always something to do. Even if you think you’re not gonna have too much that day, there’s always something to do.
“You’re always working, so I feel like that really instilled a good work ethic in me and has helped me prosper in the sport of wrestling.”
And Geer has benefited from the strength developed while working on the farm.
“I am a believer in farm strength,” Geer said. “And it’s not just because I’m biased. I feel like every other farm kid I’ve wrestled always had an absurd amount of strength that you didn’t want to deal with.”
Geer was lightly recruited out of high school, and began his college career at Edinboro, where he found early success. After his redshirt freshman season in 2018, he transferred to OSU and has been a staple in the lineup since he arrived.
“I think he’s enjoyed Stillwater,” OSU coach John Smith said. “Wasn’t highly recruited coming out of high school. We’ve enjoyed having him. He’s been a real asset from the standpoint of just having a great attitude. A good farm boy.”
Smith, who is a farmer himself, understands the value of the work ethic and attitude developed on the farm.
“Everything you hope comes from a lifestyle like that transfers to the wrestling room,” Smith said. “And it has with him. He’s a tough kid.”
While Geer and his siblings were living at home, the family saw no need to hire outside help, but now that the kids are grown, that view has changed.
“They started hiring help all over the place,” Geer said with a laugh. “They’ve got too many people now. I don’t know why they couldn’t do that while I was there, give me some free time.
“It was just us. My dad didn’t hire anybody. It was just the family and we were running it. We grew all the crops, too, for our cows, so between five people, that work was pretty stacked up for everybody. It was enough to burn me out of wanting to dairy farm again.”
Geer might not be going back to farming, but at the same time, he wouldn’t trade his experiences — even with the painful sacrifices they entailed.
“As a kid, you want to go hang out with your friends. Instead, you gotta go tend to the cows,” Geer said.
“The sacrifices, growing up, you really don’t see the benefit out of it. You’re just working. It sucks and you wanna go see your friends. But long-term, looking back, I’m happy that I went through it and did all the stuff that I did, because I feel like it made me the person I am now.”
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OSU wrestling: Dakota Geer shaped by growing up on dairy farm
