Danny Mack Gable (born October 25, 1948) is an American former folkstyle and freestyle wrestler and coach. Considered to be one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, Gable is a two-time NCAA Division I national champion, a World gold medalist, and an Olympic gold medalist. Gable was only the third wrestler to be inducted into the United World Wrestling's Hall of Fame in the Legend category.
Early life
Gable was born and grew up in Waterloo, Iowa. When he was 15 years old, a teenager from his neighborhood murdered Gable's 19-year-old sister. Although Gable called his sister's death his "biggest loss",
he did not allow the tragedy to affect his focus on wrestling. Instead, he thought of it as a reason to train with even more determination:
He attended high school at West High School in Waterloo.[ Dan Gable - Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame. Retrieved June 17, 2023.]
Wrestling career
College
From 1967 to 1970, Gable attended Iowa State University, where he competed in wrestling. At Iowa State, he became a two-time NCAA Division I national champion and three-time finalist. Gable's college career record was 118–1, with his only loss being in the NCAA final match during his senior season to Larry Owings of the University of Washington.
Freestyle
From 1971 to 1973, Gable competed internationally in freestyle wrestling. Highlights of his career include gold medals at the 1971 Tbilisi Tournament, the 1971 world championships, and the 1972 Olympic Games. At the 1972 Games, Gable won all six of his matches without giving up a point.
After competing sporadically from 1974 to 1975, Gable retired and became a full-time coach. In 1991, Gable was awarded with the Art Abrams Lifetime Achievement Award by Cauliflower Alley Club.
Coaching career
From 1976 to 1997, Gable was the head wrestling coach at the University of Iowa. Gable's teams compiled a dual meet record of 355–21–5. He coached 158 All-Americans, 50 national champions, 106 Big Ten champions, and 12 Olympians, including eight Olympic medalists. His teams won 21 Big Ten championships and 15 NCAA Division I titles.
In addition to coaching folkstyle wrestling at the University of Iowa, Gable coached freestyle wrestling. Gable was the head coach of three USA Olympic teams and six USA World teams.
Legacy
Gable has been written about in many magazines and numerous books, including
Two Guys Named Dan (1976),
From Gotch to Gable: A History of Wrestling in Iowa (1981),
The Toughest Men in Sports (1984) and
Legends of the Mat (2006), all by wrestling historian Mike Chapman.
The 2008 film, Never Back Down, mentioned Dan Gable. The antagonist and protagonist early in the film seem to bond over this Iowa athlete as the, 'greatest Olympic wrestler ever... the '72 Games, never surrendered a point.'
The Dan Gable museum is named for him, which is located in his hometown of Waterloo, Iowa, part of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum.
Professional wrestler Chad Gable's WWE in-ring name was named after him.
Olympic gold medalist freestyle wrestler Gable Steveson was named after him.
The Gable grip used in wrestling and mixed martial arts was named after him.
Awards and honors
- 2020
-
Presidential Medal of Freedom
- 1980
-
National Wrestling Hall of Fame Distinguished Member
[ Dan Gable. National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Retrieved September 16, 2022.]
- 1972
-
Summer Olympics
-
Tbilisi Tournament
-
Midlands Championships
- 1971
-
World Wrestling Championships
-
Pan American Games
-
Midlands Championships
- 1970
-
NCAA Division I
-
NCAA Division I Gorrarian Award winner
-
Big Eight Conference
-
Midlands Championships
- 1969
-
NCAA Most Outstanding Wrestler
-
NCAA Division I
-
NCAA Division I Gorrarian Award winner
-
Big Eight Conference
-
Midlands Championships
- 1968
-
NCAA Division I
-
Big Eight Conference
-
Midlands Championships
- 1967
Match results
! colspan="7"|World Championships & Olympic Games Matches
|-
! Res.
! Record
! Opponent
! Score
! Date
! Event
! Location
|-
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
|-
|Win
|12–0
|align=left| Ruslan Ashuraliyev
|style="font-size:88%"|3–0
|style="font-size:88%" rowspan=6|August 27, 1972
|style="font-size:88%" rowspan=6|1972 Summer Olympic Games
|style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=6|
Munich,
West Germany
|-
|Win
|11–0
|align=left| Włodzimierz Cieślak
|style="font-size:88%"|Fall
|-
|Win
|10–0
|align=left|
Kikuo Wada
|style="font-size:88%"|6–0
|-
|Win
|9–0
|align=left| Stefanos Ioannidis
|style="font-size:88%"|Fall
|-
|Win
|8–0
|align=left|
Klaus Rost
|style="font-size:88%"|20–0
|-
|Win
|7–0
|align=left|
Safer Sali
|style="font-size:88%"|Fall
|-
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
|-
|Win
|6–0
|align=left|
Ismail Yuseinov
|style="font-size:88%"|8–3
|style="font-size:88%" rowspan=6|August 27, 1971
|style="font-size:88%" rowspan=6|1971 World Wrestling Championships
|style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=6|
Sofia,
Bulgaria
|-
|Win
|5–0
|align=left|
Kikuo Wada
|style="font-size:88%"|Fall
|-
|Win
|4–0
|align=left|
Josef Engel
|style="font-size:88%"|Fall
|-
|Win
|3–0
|align=left| Nihat Kabanli
|style="font-size:88%"|Fall
|-
|Win
|2–0
|align=left| Eero Suvilehto
|style="font-size:88%"|Fall
|-
|Win
|1–0
|align=left| Vasily Kazakov
|style="font-size:88%"|5–1
See also
Bibliography
-
Baughman, Wayne. 1987. Wrestling On & Off the Mat. R. Wayne Baughman.
-
Chen, Albert. 2014. "Where are they Now: Catching up with Dan Gable and Larry Owings," Sports Illustrated (July 11, 2014)
-
Gable, Dan. 2015. A Wrestling Life: The Inspiring Stories of Dan Gable. University of Iowa Press.
-
Hammond, Jairus K. 2005. The History of Collegiate Wrestling. National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum.
-
Moffat, James V. 2007. Wrestlers At The Trials. Exit Zero Publishing.
-
Smith, Russ L. 1973. The Legend of Dan Gable. Medalist Sports Education Publication.
-
Zavoral, Nolan. 1997. A Season on the Mat. Simon & Schuster.
External links
