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Meet the Athlete: Nick Geissler

This week's athlete is Stevenson's top senior golfer from the fall. Nick Geissler heads to Bucknell University next fall to play his favorite sport in college.

Nick Geissler didn't win any state titles playing golf for . But that only makes him more determined to play well at the next level.

There was some interest in Geissler's skills in the South. However, the Stevenson senior followed a path to Lewisburg, Penn. And when he arrived in October, the weather was nasty.

"It was kind of rainy," Geissler said. "I tried to ignore the bad weather. The school (Bucknell University) was great. The facilities were awesome."

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So who did Bucknell sign up for golf next year?

"He improved so much the past year," noted Stevenson's junior golfer Reed Aren. "We considered him a leader for us. His ball-striking is great."

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The name Geissler is well known at Stevenson. Nick's older sister, Sarah, was an excellent basketball player at Stevenson. Her younger brother chose baseball first, but found out he would rather play golf.

"Instead of sitting in center field," Geissler said, "I would rather be in the middle of a fairway."

On the course: Prior to his visit to Pennsylvania, Geissler was playing golf at Deerfield Golf Course in early October. And his solid 75 tied for team honors at this regional.

"I was two-under and then had a couple of three putts,'' he said. "I made a lot of birdies that day."

The better news that day was the senior's score helped the Patriots to move on to the sectional.

His Patriots were helped along by Amaran Sandhu (75), Jack Spellman (76) and Aren (78).

A week later, Stevenson finished fourth in the Fremd Sectional. Aren qualified for the state tournament. Geissler was one shot short of qualifying for state.

"I missed by a shot,'' Geissler said. "I battled all day. I had three or four bad shots. I caught a sprinkler head with one shot. I was ready to do it."

Instead of hanging his head, Geissler went back to work.

"I really enjoy the game," he said. "I work a lot on my game. I was playing six days a week. I have a lot of confidence in my skill set. I just need to put the hours in."

And when the weather turned cold, he headed indoors for more golf. Despite all this golf, Geissler still has time to do his school work. His culmative grade point average is a robust 3.87.

"I'm more interested in social studies and English,'' he said. "I like math. It definitely has a purpose. I might look into political science in college. I want also to be diverse and be able to jump in any field."

Right now, however, he's focused on lowering his golf average.

"I really like the individual pursuit,'' he said. "I want to want to be an All-American."

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