Dan Gable's living a Wonderful Life

They say time flies.  And as every year goes by it seems to go even faster.  It had been over 25 years since I interviewed Dan Gable in a half-hour documentary for Iowa Public Television.  I asked him recently if he’d like to talk about some things in the wrestling world and what he was doing to keep busy.  He was more than willing.

In my earlier talks with Dan, I asked him to name his all-time favorite movie.  With nary a hesitation, he fired back, “It’s A Wonderful Life”.  The 1946 movie starred Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed.  Stewart played George Bailey, a young father who stayed in his hometown rather than go off and tackle the world.  George has so many problems he is thinking about ending it all – and it’s Christmas!  As the angels discuss George, we see his life in flashback.  As George is about to jump from a bridge, his guardian angel, Clarence, beat him into the icy waters.  Bailey jumped in and saved Clarence.  George, frustrated now by not being able to kill himself said, “I wish I’d never been born”.  Clarence then shows George what his town and the lives of others would have looked like if he hadn’t been born. For all his good deeds over the years would now be nonexistent. 

So, what would it look like if Dan hadn’t been born.  First off, there would be no Kathy Gable.  There would be a Kathy, but not the one we’ve seen by Dan’s side all these years.  There would be no Gable daughters (Jenni, Annie, Molly and Mackenzie).  And there would not be fourteen grandkids!! Yes, 14.

There wouldn’t be these individual achievements:

3x All-American

181-1 Combined prep and college record

6x Midlands Champion

3x USA Freestyle National Champion

1971 World Champion

1972 Outstanding Wrestler at Tbilisi Tournament

1972 Olympic Gold Medalist

Did not surrender a point in Munich Games

Top 100 Olympians of all time

Wrestler of the Century by Gannett Co.

Medal of Freedom (1st wrestler in history to receive the honor)

And as a coach these things wouldn’t have happened:

Coached Iowa to 15 NCAA Titles

21 yr. record of 355-21-5 (94.4%)

Big Ten record of 131-2-1 (98.5%)

21 Big Ten Team Titles

Coached 45 National Champions

Coached 152 All-Americans

Coached 106 Big Ten Champions

3x NCAA Coach of the Year

7 perfect seasons

9 Consecutive NCAA titles

NCAA record of 170 team points in 1997 in Cedar Falls (last season)

1980, 1984, 2000 US Olympic Head Coach

Coached 12 Hawkeye Olympians

‘Sports Figure of the Century in Iowa’ by Sports Illustrated

I asked Dan about his favorite movie again.  This time, I asked him if he could image both his family and the sport of wrestling without him being part of the picture.  Like he never existed.  There was a fairly long pause followed by a choked back word or two.  “I’ve tried to stay humble.  I’ve had such an amazing life.  I’ve been blown away by the people who take care of Dan Gable.  How did I get so lucky?  I don’t like to use the word lucky, but…. I’ve been so fortunate to have had such great people around me.  My Mom and Dad, Kathy, my four daughters and their husbands and fourteen grandchildren.  And of course a great wrestling family.

In looking back at some of the many achievements listed above, it would be hard to stay humble.  If you ask him why so many good things came his way, he wonders if the timing was right.  That he was the right person at the right time, for him and the sport.  With so many years spent connected with wrestling you’d think he would be slowing down.  Not at all.  “I’m as busy as I’ve ever been.  Granted, I get to pick and choose what I do, but my days are filled.  My key thing is to continue contributing, however I can”.

This past weekend, June 2nd and 3rd, Gable was in Stillwater, Oklahoma at the National Wresting Hall of Fame Inductions.  Being inducted into the 2023 class were Jimmy Jackson, Patricia Miranda, Joe Williams and long-time wrestling leader, Rich Bender.  Jackson, Miranda and Williams were all superior on the mat from a collegiate and Olympic standpoint.  Bender, has led one of the most successful periods in USA Wrestling for over 25 years now.  Also honored was Former Iowa Athletic Director, Bob Bowlsby, as an Order of Merit recipient.  He was noted for his contribution to the sport of wrestling but not as an athlete or a coach.

The weekend was not over, however.  Waiting in Terre Haute, Indiana was a good portion of the Gable clan. Gable Mitchell and the Iowa Hawkeyes baseball team were playing in the Terre Haute Regional.  So as any good grandfather would do. He bee-lined it for Indiana to offer his support.  You could tell from his references throughout this portion of our interview, that Dan was tremendously proud of his grandson.  Unfortunately, Iowa lost to Indiana State in the Regional Final 11-8 on Sunday evening.  The future looks bright not only for Iowa baseball in the coming years but young Gable as well.  Gable Mitchell is a freshman switch hitter from City High in Iowa City.  He was an All-State super team and 4-A state captain with a .466 batting average his senior year.  Thursday, Dan and Kathy headed off to the ball diamonds of Wisconsin to take Gable to participate in the Northwoods League, a wooden bat league. 

Some years ago Dan was quoted as saying the reason he quit coaching was the losses.  It bothered him immensely to see people devote so much time and come up short in their dreams.  A loss can have a tremendous effect on an athlete.  Dan knows firsthand.  The one loss of his high school and collegiate career occurred on the final match of the 1970 NCAA final to Larry Owings 13-11. This past March, Iowa’s Spencer Lee lost his semi-final match as he tried to become the fifth 4-time National Champion in the sport.  It would seem like Dan would be a perfect person to offer some thoughts.  “I’ve talked to Spencer a little.  So much of wrestling is mental.  Time will tell. He needs to focus on “performing” and nothing else.  There’s an avenue for him to make the Olympic team”, Gable stated..

Twenty five years ago when Dan was talking wrestling, he was genuinely concerned about where the sport was headed.  Numerous college programs had decided to shut down.  Not so today.  And the reason? The high school and women programs springing up all over the country.  Iowa will begin competition in 2023 under Charissa Chun who was hired in November of 2021.  There are more than 150 women’s college programs nationwide at the NCAA, NAIA and junior college levels.  The NCAA will soon host a women’s wrestling national championship. “That has and will bring more eyeballs to our sport.  And competition.  Wrestling is where it’s at now, all over the world”, said Dan.  Gable is encouraged and rightly so. The sport fought off the heat of not being stripped from the Olympic Games to what we see now.  That’s what contributing will do.

So what does Dan do away from it all?  He used to work out every day when I first met him.  I asked him if he still did.  “Every day”, yup”, he stated.  “I Airdyne, lift weights and swim.” And his respite?  He still has the family cabin in Lansing, Iowa and some property at Leech Lake and Florida. My guess is, he does some fishing.

So, yes time flies.  Faster for some than others.  In the case of Dan Gable, Father Time hasn’t caught up to him yet.  And we can all be grateful of that.

Note: The NCAA came out with some rules changes after this interview with Dan.  There are some interesting changes.  To take a look click here:https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/11038223-ncaa-playing-rules-oversight-panel-    passes-13-