Danny Mack "Dan" Gable (born October 25, 1948) is a retired American Olympic wrestler and head coach. He is best known for his tenure as head coach at the University of Iowa where he won 15 NCAA team titles between 1976 and 1997. He is also famous for having only lost one match in his entire Iowa State University collegiate career - his last - and winning gold at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany, while not giving up a single point. October 25, 2013, was recognized as Dan Gable Day in Iowa.
§High school career
Although Gable was not permitted to wrestle on the varsity wrestling squad during his freshman year, his only recorded high school loss was during his freshman year when he lost an official match to state champ Matt Leamon.
As a sophomore in high school, Gable experienced a personal tragedy. His older sister, Diane, was molested and murdered May 31, 1964, in the Gable family home, while Dan and his parents were on vacation. Diane Gable's killer, John Thomas Kyle (a classmate of Dan Gable's), pled guilty to charges in connection with her death and was sentenced to life in prison. Kyle died in a Kansas state penitentiary on June 17, 2011; Gable was in northeast Iowa--the same area where he was vacationing when his sister was killed--when he learned of Kyle's death. Gable later recalled that the event gave him a singular passion for wrestling as a way to uplift his shattered family. In his documentary Gable, he said, "I needed to give them enough entertainment that they didn't have to look other places."
§Collegiate and freestyle career
After high school, Gable wrestled for the Iowa State University Cyclones of the Big Eight Conference. Gable wrestled for Iowa State's varsity squad for three years and won two NCAA titles. Gable's overall collegiate mark was 181-1. His only collegiate defeat was in his final match where he lost to Larry Owings of the University of Washington.
Gable wrestled on the national freestyle wrestling circuit between 1967 and 1976 where he earned a record of 67-4. He wrestled internationally between 1971 and 1973 where he earned a record of 30-1. Overall, his freestyle record was 97-5.
§1967
- Gable was not permitted to wrestle on the varsity wrestling squad at Iowa State University because of NCAA rules that did not permit freshmen to wrestle.
- 1966-67 Midlands Tournament Champion, wrestling unattached
- Gable's domestic freestyle record in 1967 was 3-0. He went 3-0 at the U.S. Freestyle Nationals
§1968
- Big Eight Champion
- NCAA National Champion
- Gable's domestic freestyle record in 1968 was 8-2-1, including a 3-2-1 mark at the Olympic Trials
§1969
- 1968-69 Midlands Tournament Champion
- Big Eight Champion
- NCAA National Champion
- U.S. Freestyle National Champion
§1970
- 1969-70 Midlands Tournament Champion
- Big Eight Champion
- NCAA Runner-up
- U.S. Freestyle National Champion
- Dual champion with wins against Kajuan Mawe and Wade Stalling
§1971
- 1970-71 Midlands Tournament Champion, wrestling unattached
- Gable's international freestyle record in 1971 was 17-1-0.
- Tied Nasrulla Nasrualaev in a dual meet with Russia.
- Pan-American Games Champion
- World Freestyle Champion in the 68 kg category at Sofia, Bulgaria.
§1972
- 1971-72 Midlands Tournament Champion, wrestling unattached
- Gable's international freestyle record in 1972 was 11-0.
- Tblisi Tournament Champion.
- Olympic Champion. Did not surrender a single point in Olympic Games.
§1973
- Gable's international freestyle record in 1973 was 1-0, defeating Pavel Pinigan in a dual meet with Russia.
§Coaching career
Gable became head wrestling coach at the University of Iowa in 1976, and went on to be the most successful coach in American collegiate history. From 1978 to 1986, the Hawkeyes won the NCAA title each year, a record nine in succession. He continued to coach the team until a sabbatical after the 1997 season.
His teams compiled a dual meet record of 355-21-5. He coached 152 all-Americans, 45 national champions, 106 Big Ten Champions and 12 Olympians, including four gold, one silver and three bronze medalists. The Hawkeyes won 25 consecutive Big Ten championships, 21 under Gable as head coach and four while he was an assistant coach and administrator. He led them to an unprecedented 15 National titles.
Despite his unprecedented success, Gable was first honored as Big Ten Coach of the Year in 1993. That was his 17th year as Iowa's coach and his 17th Big Ten championship. By comparison, J Robinson of Minnesota has been given the award seven times in his career.
In 1997, the Hawkeyes were expected to lose to the favored Oklahoma State Cowboys. But Gable, who was by this time coaching on crutches after hip replacement surgery, led his team to its 17th NCAA team title and to an unprecedented NCAA-record 170 points. A documentary following him that year "Freestyle: The Victories of Dan Gable" directed by Kevin Kelley and produced by David L. Gould aired on HBO 2.
In addition to his leadership at the college level, Gable was head coach of the United States Olympic team in freestyle wrestling in 1980, 1984, and 2000.
Gable's successor at Iowa, Jim Zalesky, won three NCAA titles under him. It was announced on April 14, 2006, that Gable would be rejoining the coaching staff at Iowa as top assistant coach to current coach and former Gable national champion Tom Brands. Currently, he is an assistant athletic director at the University of Iowa.
Gable remains involved with the team, but stepped down from his assistant coach role in October 2011.
§Achievements and Status in Popular Culture
Dan Gable has frequently been a subject in American popular press. In an Esquire interview, actor, and high school wrestler Tom Cruise considered Gable his greatest hero. Gable himself was profiled in Esquire by the novelist and former University of Pittsburgh wrestler John Irving. The story was entitled "Gorgeous Dan". Gable was praised extensively during the speech given by the Iron Sheik at his induction to the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005. In 1999, Sports Illustrated selected him as the greatest sports figure in the history of the state of Iowa. During Gable's tenure as coach, the teen sitcom Saved by the Bell referred to the University of Iowa and a fictional coach that had appeared to scout AC Slater portrayed by Mario Lopez for their team. Gable appears in the documentary film Catch: The Hold Not Taken in which he speaks of the origins of amateur wrestling. He recalls that, growing up, he knew high school wrestling as 'Catch as catch can', which is the name of the traditional style from Lancashire, England. In the movie Never Back Down, Dan Gable is mentioned in a scene as the greatest Olympic wrestler ever. An author himself, in 1999 he published Coaching Wrestling Successfully in which he shared his blueprint for developing wrestling champions. He has also created a series of wrestling instructional videos.
§See also
- Iowa Sports Hall of Fame
§Bibliography
- Smith, Russ L. 1973. The Legend of Dan Gable. Medalist Sports Education Publication.
- Baughman, Wayne. 1987. Wrestling On & Off the Mat. R. Wayne Baughman. ISBN 978-0-9618446-0-8
- Zavoral, Nolan. 1997. A Season on the Mat. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4165-3553-9
- Hammond, Jairus K. 2005. The History of Collegiate Wrestling. National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum. ISBN 978-0-9765064-0-9
- Moffat, James V. 2007. Wrestlers At The Trials. Exit Zero Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9799051-0-0
§References
§External links
- Official site
- Dan Gable Official Interview
- Website of film 'Catch: the hold not taken'
- Dan Gable's U.S. Olympic Team bio
- Gable's wins and losses between the years 1963 and 1973
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