Dan Gable is best known for his coaching accolades (including 15 NCAA team team titles for university of Iowa) but the legend is primarily forged on a career that totaled only one lost match in his entire collegiate career. Gable even managed to snag an Olympic gold medal without giving up a single point back in 1972. At one point he used the term “horse with blinders” to describe himself in regards to wrestling. His “attack, control, execute” philosophy is a dead ringer for success. The man behind the Gable Grip helped redefine an entire generation.
Still Gable is a firm believer that wrestling is for everybody and not just select few:
“They say wrestling isn’t for everybody, but I say it should be,” said Gable when discussing some of his insights early on. “We’re the only sport out there where you have to make a weight class, whether you go up or down you have to learn and understand nutrition to meet weight. It’s also one of the sport that takes quite a bit on endurance, combining track and field, swimming and other activities.”
Three months after being dropped from the 2020 Olympics, wrestling won a reprieve made the IOC short list for inclusion in the games.
Dan Gable explains how the initial decision shocked him and even brought him to tears:
“It was a nightmare. I couldn’t believe it. I was overcome with sadness”