Posted
December 27, 2024
Dean Heil ’13, St. Edward High School’s fourth and most recent wrestler to win four individual state championships, will be inducted into the Howard E. Ferguson Athletic Hall of Fame on January 16. Join us to celebrate his achievements and honor all the 2025 inductees!
Dean Heil posted a career high school record of 126-7 and helped the Eagles land championship seasons his sophomore, junior, and senior years, including a state tournament most valuable wrestler recognition in 2013. He is also an Ironman champion—his favorite athletic memory from high school—a three-time Ironman placer; and a Super 32 champion.
After graduating from St. Edward, Heil continued his wrestling dominance at Oklahoma State University. He was a two-time individual national champion, which he considers to be his greatest athletic accomplishment. Additionally, he was a three-time Big 12 champion; a three-time college All-American; a four-time World Team qualifier; and a 2016 Olympic Trials qualifier. In the 2016-17 school year, he had a perfect overall record of 32-0, which was the 15th undefeated season of 29 or more wins in Oklahoma State University history. He finished his college career with 116 wins, ranking him 22nd all-time in the history of the program.
Academically, Heil was a four-time National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Academic Team member and earned a Bachelor of University Studies from Oklahoma State in 2018.
Heil says that his success came from a “constant drive to do the little things right.” Today, he coaches college wrestlers to do just that. He began his coaching career at Campbell University, and in June 2024, he was named Head Assistant Wrestling Coach at George Mason University. He currently lives in Fairfax, Virginia.
Heil is the son of Michael and Kimberly Heil and has four brothers: Brenden, Aaron, Logan, and Josh. His girlfriend is Victoria Smith.