Dan Gable

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 have ever been inducted into the United World Wrestling's Hall of Fame in the Legend category. On December 8, 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump awarded Gable with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Gable grew up in Waterloo, Iowa. When he was 15 years old, a teenager from his neighborhood raped and murdered Gable's 19-year-old sister. Although Gable has 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:

"The more you can settle into focusing on what you have and what you would like to do and where you want to go — a positive point of view — the quicker things turn around and positive things start to happen."

College

From 1967 to 1970, Gable attended Iowa State University, where he competed in folkstyle wrestling. At Iowa State, he became an NCAA Division I national runner-up and two-time national champion. Gable's college career record was 117–1, with his only loss being in the final match of his final 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 Tblisi Tournament, the 1971 world championships, and the 1972 Olympic Games. At the 1972 Games, in particular, 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.

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 152 all-Americans, 45 national champions, 106 Big Ten Champions and 12 Olympians, including eight medalists.His teams won 21 Big Ten Conference 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 Olympic teams and six world teams.

2020

Olympic gold medallist freestyle wrestler Gable Steveson was named after him.

• Baughman, Wayne. 1987. Wrestling On & Off the Mat. R. Wayne Baughman. ISBN 978-0-9618446-0-8
• 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. ISBN 978-1609383404
• 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
• Smith, Russ L. 1973. The Legend of Dan Gable. Medalist Sports Education Publication.
• Zavoral, Nolan. 1997. A Season on the Mat. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4165-3553-9