Continued from page 6
his opponents without surrendering a point.
Then Iowa pried Gable away from the Cyclones and he became the leader of one of the most impressive dynasties in the history of organized sport. Gable was in charge for 21 of the program’s 25 con- secutive Big Ten titles. Under his watch, the Hawkeyes won 15 NCAA titles, includ- ing a run of nine consecutive from 1978- 86.
“It was us against the country,” said
Minnesota coach J Robinson, Gable’s longtime top assistant. “Every year every- body would come back to beat us, which was very motivating. It was an interesting run because people would ask how we would do it and I’d tell them and everybody would say that wasn’t (the reason). It was kind of funny.” Gable compiled a 355-21-5 record in
dual meets. It wasn’t a fair fight in Carver- Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes were 98- 1 in their home building under Gable. As Gable looks across the mats on the
day in May, a giant banner hangs from the rafters on the other side of the room. Every All-American in school history is listed with a special denotation for the NCAA champi- ons.
Gable coached 29 of the names on the
list who accounted for 45 NCAA titles. He coached 65 wrestlers who tallied 152 All- America trophies. “Don’t think I haven’t looked at that and
studied it,” Gable said. “It looks good.” Gable starts taking inventory of the
names on the list. He talks about success- ful lawyers, bankers, doctors, school administrators, businessmen and others who have followed his path in coaching. The Gable coaching tree has branches
that stretch across the Big Ten – Tom Brands at Iowa, Robinson at Minnesota, Barry Davis at Wisconsin, Tom Ryan at Ohio State, Jim Heffernan at Illinois and Duane Goldman at Indiana – and perhaps that’s the main reason the conference’s landscape has changed since his retire- ment as a head coach in 1997. In 1983, at the peak of Iowa’s domi-
nance over the league, the Hawkeyes won individual titles at nine of the 10 weights. In the first season after Gable stepped down – with his coaching disciples scattered throughout the conference – seven schools came away from the Big Ten meet with an individual champ.
Legendary coach and wrestler Dan Gable was honored during a retirement cele- bration by the University of Iowa in June in Iowa City. Ginger Robinson photo.
“I hear coaches say there’s 15 ways, 20
ways to get to the same place. There’s not,” Robinson said. “There’s a better way (and) that’s the best way. When you win the Big Ten 21 times and 15 out of 21 national tournaments, that’s pretty much telling you that’s the best way to do it. (Oklahoma State coach) John Smith won four (national titles) in a row and he’s down. We won a few and we’re down. Consistency is hard.” The names on the banner evoke memo-
ries of Gable’s best work. There’s Brands, a three-time NCAA champion and 1996 Olympic gold medalist. There’s Mark Ironside, a two-time national champ and
Iowa’s first winner of the Hodge Trophy, wrestling’s Heisman. There’s Jesse Whitmer, who parlayed his one shot as a full-time starter into an NCAA title. There are dozens of other stories, but
the ones these three tell describe Gable as a man who was overtly demanding yet compassionate, a coach who had the elasticity to serve the individual needs of his roster without sacrificing the standards of team, a leader who could see the bright- est characteristics in his athletes during the darkest times. Gable’s best trait may have been his uncanny ability to push the right motiva- Continued on page 8
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