Kent State has suspended a member of its wrestling team indefinitely for a series of anti-gay tweets, including one directed at Missouri All-American defensive lineman Michael Sam.
Sam Wheeler, a 20-year-old redshirt sophomore, tweeted on Monday that "I can't even watch Sports Center today cause all they are talking about is Marcus Smart or that fag from Mizzou."
He then responded to two other users as "queer," before tweeting, "O geez I got all these fag boys mad at me now."
The tweets, which since have been deleted -- as has Wheeler's Twitter account -- were captured in screen grabs by the website LGBTQ Nation.
"On behalf of Kent State University, we consider these comments to be ignorant and not indicative of the beliefs held by our university community as a whole," Kent State athletic director Joel Nielsen said. "This is an educational opportunity for all of our student-athletes."
Wheeler won a Division 1 state wrestling title as a high school senior. He originally went to Oklahoma before transferring to Kent State.
"As an alum of Kent State University and as Sam's head coach, I was surprised and offended by what I read on Twitter," Golden Flashes coach Jim Andrassy said in a statement. "I have spoken to Sam personally, and while he is remorseful, he will be suspended indefinitely while we determine the best course of action moving forward."
Michael Sam said he is gay in an interview with ESPN's "Outside the Lines" on Sunday. The SEC Defensive Player of the Year could become the first openly gay player in the history of the NFL if drafted in May.