Alec Donovan, a state champion wrestler at Brick Memorial High School in New Jersey, shares his coming-out story on Outsports.com. The piece chronicles Donovan’s struggle with the stigma of being gay, and the awesome way he finally told the world about it—when a busybody recruit asked him about some “rumors.” An excerpt from Outsports:

It was on a recruiting trip to Limestone College in South Carolina that Alec Donovan finally answered “the question.”

Donovan had just won the New Jersey high school state championship in the 145-pound division of the NJSIAA/Rothman Institute Wrestling Championships. Along with him on the recruiting trip was another New Jersey wrestler who had placed in the state tournament.

“Rumor is you’re bisexual,” the other recruit said to him. “Is it true?”

It had been a long journey for Donovan, once fraught with fear, depression and suicidal thoughts since realizing he was gay as a high school freshman. Now a senior approaching graduation, he had climbed out of the abyss all the way to a state title and a peace of mind. There were a select few close to him who knew his secret, but he had never shared it with other top wrestlers.

“The rumor isn’t true,” Donovan told the other recruit. “I’m not bisexual… I’m gay.”