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Dan Gable (born October 25, 1948, in Waterloo, Iowa) is an American amateur wrestler. He is 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. He was the head coach at the University of Iowa where he won 15 NCAA team titles from 1976-1998, after which he turned over his head coaching duties to Jim Zalesky. In 2006, after the program took a downfall, Gable asked Tom Brands to become the head coach^{[citation needed]}.

High school career

Although Gable was not permitted to wrestle on the varsity wrestling squad during his freshman year, he was an undefeated state champ during his sophomore through senior years. The only recorded high school loss suffered by Gable was during his freshman year when he lost an unofficial match to a teammate named Ron Keister .^[1]

As a sophomore in high school, Gable experienced a personal tragedy.^[2] His older sister, Diane, was brutally raped and murdered in the Gable family home, while Dan and his parents were on vacation. 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 says "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 29-1. Overall, his freestyle record was 97-5.

1967

• Gable was not permitted to wrestle on the varsity wrestling squad at Iowa State 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 3-2. He went 3-2 at the U.S. Freestyle Nationals

1968

• 1967-68 Midlands Tournament Champion
• 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 17-1-1.
• Lost to Vasily Kozakhov at the Tbilisi Tournament.
• Lost to Ryan Schilling at the Rapids Open
• Tied Nasrulla Nasrualaev in a dual meet with Russia.
• Pan-American Games Champion
• World Freestyle Champion in the 68 kg category at Sofia, Bulgaria.^[3]

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.
• Accepted coaching job in Grinnell iowa with assistant Josh Larson

1973

• Gable's international freestyle record in 1973 was 1-0, defeating Pavel Pinigan in a dual meet with Russia.

1976

• Lost to Cody Smith at the Northern Open.
• Lost to Denny Conway in the olympics

Coaching career

Gable became head wrestling coach at the University of Iowa in 1976. He formed a dynasty matched by few. 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 record in dual meets was 355-21-5 which included 15 NCAA titles and 21 straight Big Ten titles.

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. Currently, he is an assistant athletic director at the University of Iowa.

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.^[4]

Gable remains involved with the team, but stepped down from his assistant coach role in October, 2007.^[5]

Family life

• Dan is married to his wife Kathy and has four grown daughters, Jenni, Annie, Molly and Mackenzie Gable.

• Dan's daughter Jenni is married to Brian Mitchell and they have two sons, Gable and Jake and a daughter, Eliza.

• Dan's daughter Annie is married to Mike Gavin and they have one son, Danny, and two daughters, Elsie and Betsy.

• Dan's daughter Molly is engaged to Danny Olszta.

• Dan owns a cabin in Lansing, Iowa.

Popularity

• In an Esquire interview, actor, and high school wrestler Tom Cruise considered Gable his greatest hero^{[citation needed]}. Gable himself was profiled in Esquire by the novelist and former University of Pittsburgh wrestler John Irving. The story was entitled "Gorgeous Dan"^{[citation needed]}.

• Gable has perennially been on the wishlist for a Republican candidate for Governor of Iowa or Congressional positions^{[citation needed]}.

• 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 Dan Gable as the greatest sports figure in the history of the state of Iowa.^[6]

• 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^{[citation needed]}.

• Gable appears in the documentary film 'Catch: the hold not taken' talking about 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.

• Gable is mentioned on the song "Nothing Like Sanding Harm Coil" by the rapper Drake: "Get on the sand table/Cause harm like Dan Gable/Yeah".

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 9628446 4 6
• Zavoral, Noaln. 1997. A Season on the Mat. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978 0 684 84787 6
• Hammond, Jairus K. 2005. The History of Collegiate Wrestling. National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum. ISBN 978 0 9765064 0 8
• Moffat, James V. 2007. Wrestlers At The Trials. Exit Zero Publishing. ISBN 978 0 9799051 0 0

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

Notes