The most dramatic moment came in the final 30 seconds, with Gable technically in the lead although the scoreboard showed otherwise, when Owings slipped underneath his arms for a brilliantly executed leg sweep that dropped Gable to the mat for the winning points. He had won more than 200 matches in high school." This was where Owings wanted to be, on the mat in the middle of the action. Not, like he-was-on-a-Wheaties-box-one-time famous (though he was). Jean made it out just in time; he won the match, and the national title. After returning to Ames the next day, the first thing he did was ask teammates to wrestle him. Gable wrestled collegiately at Iowa State, but spent his coaching career from 1976-1997 at the University of Iowa. 11 ranked men's hoops teams in action tonight, DI indoor T&F championship selections revealed. "It was bedlam. He was driven. When Owings arrived, the mind games, so subtly important in this sport, began. National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum, "Bio: Dan Gable 15 National Championships. Im not going out there, Jean said. Only 30 seconds remained in the match; and Gable, despite the fact that he could coast to a one-point win, continued to stand up and circle with Owings. While at Iowa State, Gable continued his winning ways by capturing three Big Eight Championships, earning All-American honors all three years. In 1968, in Ames, Iowa, he stepped onto the mat to face the Iowa State sophomore who was already considered the best wrestler in the country. "I'm not going out there," Jean said. Facebook gives people the power to. Shop official NCAA team and championship gear. The OFFICIAL Facebook site of Western Australia's premiere Pro Wrestling organisation - EPW Perth. He could't believe he was the one affected by his opponent's reputation. I remember asking him what he did in Colorado. In that way, he and I were similar. Gable began scouting Owings' matches. There had never been a day like March 28, 1970 in the world of wrestling, and there has never been one since. Wrestling was already fading in his life when he met Diane, the woman who would become his second wife. He's an icon, a champion and the face of the sport. Owings looks like hes one sweaty workout away from his wrestling weight at Washington. "I could talk after that," he says. Owings strategy in the match was his strategy in all his others: to wear out the other guy; he was, in short, going to out Gable Gable. Owings was the first UW wrestler to win an NCAA title, but what mattered was that he had upset a man the Russians reverently called "The Machine," a man who had won 181 straight matches, 108 by pins. Then, one night about 10 years ago, he had an epiphany, which he believes came from God. He went on to finish 2nd as a junior and senior. His voice cracks, his eyes flicker, and suddenly, he goes silent, grasping for words. It was the final moments of the third period that elevated the match into the realm of myth: 30 seconds remained, and Gable was ahead 10-9; if he could stall, if he could just bide his time, a third national title was his. Call 1-800-GAMBLER. Finally, Gable says in a quiet, raspy voice, I know that the match affected my entire life. "I really didn't want to see it or talk about it much. He also became the greatest coach in U.S. college wrestling, winning 17 NCAA titles, and 21 Big Ten Championships. At the 1972 Games, in particular, Gable won all six of his matches without giving up a point. Both athletes pushed the pace, with Owings fearlessly attempted a duck under with the goal of spinning around behind Gable, but the Cyclone was too tough and he put himself on the board first by coming around for two points with a single leg takedown within the first minute of the period. When the 13-11 decision was announced in Owings favor, the crowd erupted in a standing ovation. And if he could use them to help somebody else, he should. It was a good match, wasnt it? he says. Earlier in the day, without any prodding, he brought up the murder of his sister Diane in 1964. He coached 152 All-Americans, 45 national champions, 106 Big Ten champions, and 12 Olympians, including eight medalists. An escape from Owings gave the Washington wrestler the lead, even after Gable pushed his riding time up over a minute, symbolically tying the match with time to go, but Owings wasnt done. ,Bk*+P2S` (fTrcSo NY]XX+%[w R&]_O!-(%z2R Er= de DHN"q)^P#o6Cx$%{s'1|zV9 Here is Larry Owings: sitting at his dining room table in his modest house in the Oregon countryside, 30 miles outside of Portland, on a May afternoon. Gable had an undefeated high school wrestling career. LARRY OWINGS AND DANGABLE, Kris Murray and Tony Perkins lead Iowa to its best road win of the year, The Iowa Hawkeyes and the Big Ten Tournament. After beating up on them, he thought to himself, OK, I'm still good. Gable was in the locker room when he heard the water running in the shower. Larry Owings, The Man Who Beat Gable, What happened to Larry Owings? He went on to the sensational international and Olympic career that has already been described. Grant won in '69 @ 145 and again in '70 @ 150. . Imagine my surprise when I read of my neighbor/customer's accomplishments in his obituary after he and his wife's (along with others) deaths in a tragic car accident. The fans, said Roderick, "were in shock, as well as excited seeing history. Even now, no one tells Dan Gable what to do. I cant remember anything that happened in the last 40 seconds and when I looked up at the scoreboard and saw he led 13 to 9, I couldnt believe it.. Come watch me next week as I finish my career 182-0." Gable's teams compiled a dual meet record of 355215. It's an essential part of the origin story for Dan Gable-as-superhero. He grew up the youngest of five Owings brothers, all of them wrestlers; Larry, overweight growing up, was always the least likely of the Owings brothers to go one to become a great in the sport. Gables obsession with preparation and routine was already legendary; the stories are almost outlandish -- but they are all true. Gable, who admitted he was uncharacteristically worn down as the match dragged on, remembered telling himself, "Don't get caught in the cradle. Dan Gable will tell you that eighty percent of wrestling matches are decided before the first whistle blows. Im emotional about it. Great article, Mark, thanks. Now why on earth would they want that? Diane asked. Dan Gable was and is a god among men in the world of amateur wrestling. Owings told UW Coach Jim Smith that he was aiming directly at the legend. I enjoyed your article and with no intention of being critical. Help us build a sustainable news organization to serve Canby for generations to come! After returning to Ames the next day, the first thing he did was ask teammates to wrestle him. He was U.S. Olympic freestyle coach in 1980, 1984, and 2000. 93 talking about this. Gable asked Jean as he stood there under the water. The pins were accomplished by Owings' best move, an inside reverse cradle that left his opponent unable to escape. Larry Owings. Only one man who ever lived can say he beat Dan Gable, and that man is 1968 Canby Union High School grad Larry Owings. Owings had his first chance at the 1969 NCAA Championships but, as he would later regret, decided to wrestle at 130 pounds, avoiding Gable's 137-pound class. I was like, Who would say that?, Where are they now: Catching up with Chamique Holdsclaw, The wrestler was an unknown coming off a 30-1 season at Washington, a reserved 19-year-old who didnt appreciate anyone who suggested that any result on the mat was a foregone conclusion. "I was a scrambling type of wrestler, and I think he was more of a controlled wrestler," Owings told the Associated Press 17 years after his win in an article headlined "Gable's rival, former bosses look back. He lost 20 pounds, while simultaneously growing several inches, and all of a sudden no one was saying hed never be a wrestler anymore. Gable didnt feel redemption or justice, only a heavy weight lifted: in an unexpected moment of clarity, he realized that all these years hes somehow been partly blaming himself for her death. A stalemate brought the wrestlers back to the center, but, within seconds, the match was over. He attempted an arm-bar move, raising his arm over Owingss shoulder to lock him up and take him down. Smith would rather have Owings wrestle at 150 pounds. He beat Gable in the finals of the 1970 NCAA Tournament, one of the most famous wrestling matches in history. There is, however, still the open wound from 1970. To say Owings was the underdog would be, well, an understatement. Minn. Owings was wrestling best at 136.5 . Owings went to work on top, forcing Gable into a passive position and generating a stall call against the Cyclone for a point. Find them on the corner of NW Third and Grant in downtown Canby. Gable was more exhausted than hed ever been at the end of a match. Stillwater, OK 74075 The Cyclone collected himself after the takedown, taking a timeout to adjust his contact lens before going back to the middle. Highlights of his career include gold medals at the 1971 Tbilisi Tournament, the 1971 world championships, and the 1972 Olympic Games. Owings was the first UW wrestler to win an NCAA title, but what mattered was that he had upset a man the Russians reverently called "The Machine," a man who had won 181 straight matches, 108 by pins. The two met in the finals of the 1970 NCAA wrestling championship. I didn't know how the referee would score it.". Where do you go from there? Owings remained one of the top wrestlers in the country, but as disappointments mounted -- he finished second in the NCAA championships in 1971 and 72 -- Owings began to feel like his national championship win was a curse. But that was my gig, too. Over the first two periods the match went back and forth, and when the match stretched into the third period the energy of the hall seemed to change -- from frenzy to palpable anxiety -- as the crowd seemed to realize that Gable was in a fight. I agree with dbestsport that the Marianetti-McIlravey final was a huge upset in the annals of wrestling. Larry Owings, Coach/Official, Canby, Oregon. Gambling problem? He won every college match, and the only match he dropped was his last match against Larry Owings in the 142-pound finals in 1970. It was during 117-1 at Iowa State University that lost to Larry Owings in 1970. The name "Larry Owings" might not be immediately recognizable to Iowa fans, but he's an important figure in the history of both Gable and Iowa wrestling. The fans, said Roderick, "were in shock, as well as excited seeing history. Iowa State had won the national team championship, but Gable's loss dominated the headlines. But Dan Gable, of course, is so much more than one result. Referee Pascal Perri described the noise as "comparable to Niagara Falls during the spring thaw.". "After that match, it took me a long time to really admit a lot of things," Gable said. Gable said a teammate showed him the article. "I've never wrestled after you've lost a match, and I'm not going to do it now." I wasn't that surprised the night Caldwell beat Metcalf. Let's take a look into the NCAA vault and recap the sequence of events that led to this final collegiate dual and the battle between the Cyclone star and his opponent, Washington's Larry Owings, in 1970. Gable was given a four-minute standing ovation during his introduction as the ceremonies stopped. (I mean, why not, right?). <> I was almost embarrassed to have won, he says. So, yeah,go read the article. All Rights Reserved. I could talk after that, he says. 405 West Hall of Fame Avenue Stillwater, OK 74075 Phone: (405) 377-5243 Email: [email protected] He walked over and saw his teammate Chuck Jean there. Yeah, college basketball is ready for March. That has never bothered Owings. How Tall Is Dan Gable? More than any other sport, wrestling is rooted in self-belief and desire: being big, strong, fast and talented can take you only so far; in the end, it is about endurance, stamina, conviction. But he squeaked out an early lead and manage to barely hang onto it through a close, hard-fought, furious match that exhausted both men. He prefers to show them, firsthand. Gable's college career record was 1171, with his only loss being in the final match of his final season to Larry Owings of the University of Washington. He clings to it like a drowning man trying to stay afloat, because he understands what once had defeated him also made him a champion. Gable said when Owings grabbed his leg "it was kind of like a slow-motion fall. [8], From 1976 to 1997, Gable was the head wrestling coach at the University of Iowa. Now, it was like a burden was lifted. The man who beat Dan Gable.. He has softened in his old age -- thats what nine grandchildren will do to you -- and lately he has been more reflective; a stack of papers on the desk is the memoir hes working on with a writer. After the defeat, Gable won gold medals at the 1971 world championships as well as the 1972 Olympics. Just a thought. The match spawned a book, a documentary, countless magazine articles, and decades of reflection. Owings had won. Email: [email protected], 303 Jefferson St. Earned bachelor's degree and master's degree in education from the University of Washington. He said he "coached some wrestling ". They shut down the whole tournament for 15 minutes. Perri had given Owings two points for the takedown and two for a near-fall, as Gable's shoulders were briefly exposed to the mat. Its been 17 years since he coached his last match, but his life still revolves around wrestling and fixing problems within in the sport, both small and big, from the new freshman at the university who needs a kick in the butt to the sports very survival -- last year, after the International Olympic Committee dropped wrestling as one of its core sports in February 2013, Gable made it a personal crusade to have it reinstated. Earned bachelor's degree and master's degree in education from the University of Washington. His conditioning was so legendary that the Russians whom he would face in an international career that included two world championships and a gold medal at the 1972 Olympics in Munich nicknamed him The Machine.. Despite leading Iowa to 15 team championships and cementing his legacy as one of the best leaders in the sport, he still thinks about Larry Owings. Just sitting here, talking about it it hurts. National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum, Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award, Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award. I assume how hard it could be to train when you're given a lot of essays and homework to do. Earned bachelor's degree and master's degree in education from the University of Washington. The Cyclone star did rack up his time in control and actively worked for the turn with an arm bar before resetting and continuing to ride. Im emotional about it because theres still a lot of meaning Gable told SI.com in 2014. Dan Gable height is 5 Feet 9 Inches. Owings ran three miles every morning around the Husky Stadium track, averaging six minutes a mile and sprinting the final quarter-mile in less than a minute. 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. Olympic Champion. He was presented with the Man of the Year award during the championships, the media sought him out before and after every match, and he was struggling under the burden of a 181-match winning streak. Graduated from Canby High School where he was a two-time OSAA champion. Dan Gable won 13-4 in a match that would serve as the central motivation for Owings two years later. Gable's career soared. It still stands as one of the greatest upsets in sports history. He was known to wake up in the middle of night, just to do push-ups while his opponents slept. "I was almost embarrassed to have won," he says. Both wrestlers advanced through the tournament by pinning each of their opponents. World Champion", "Trump honors legendary Iowa wrestler Gable at White House", "Dan Gable among speakers discussing victims' rights", "Himself the victim of a violent tragedy, Gable says loss can result in some good", "Bio: Dan Gable 15 National Championships. % He was intrigued by Owings' swagger. In the days afterward he shut himself from the world. In his first 117 college matches, undefeated, including two national championships. Working out from under Gable gave Owings momentum and confidence, and he translated that energy into a takedown of his own against his opponent to give Owings the lead 3-2 in the match and rode out Gable for the remainder of the first period to finish the first three minutes on top. It is the match that Dan Gable will say turned him into a great wrestler -- and yet he still has trouble bringing himself to talk about it. Danny Mack Gable (born October 25, 1948) is an American former folkstyle and freestyle wrestler and coach. However, Gable had to deal with more distractions than Owings. The night before the weigh in, he had a fight with his wife, who was seven months pregnant and didnt want him to leave her and the baby behind and go to the Olympics. [6], Olympic gold medalist freestyle wrestler Gable Steveson was named after him. The way I see it, he says, Im the coach of the sport.. After graduating, Gable undertook an intensive training program and won the 1971 world and Pan-American championships. Gable was in the locker room when he heard the water running in the shower. Gable won 13-4 and went on; Owings never forgot. That number 182 would have included Gable's undefeated high school and collegiate career. Phone: (405) 377-5243 It was a decision the Chicago Daily News writer Bill Jauss said made him either the bravest or dumbest guy in amateur wrestling. Gables reputation was such that guys generally piled on weight to avoid facing him on the mat; not the other way around. 4 0 obj "It was a move," Owings said, "I had never done before or since.". The teasing was merciless and nearly crushed him, but it also fueled him to drop the weight and spend extra hours in the gym, and by his senior year he was the best wrestler in the state, competing in national tournaments and Olympic trials. Lately hes been calling around -- to the University of Washington, to the Wrestling Hall of Fame in Iowa named after the loser of the match, to ABC, which was there to broadcast the event -- to see if anyone can send him a DVD, but no one seems to have one. 2023 National Wrestling Hall Of Fame. It was my moms worst fear. Feeling stripped of his powers after his loss, Gable was finding out what it was like to be human. He now does university fund raising and works with the U.S. Olympic team. It doesn't matter that it's been 30 years. Come watch me next week as I finish my career 182-0. Gable kept bungling the lines, and the take took half an hour; by the time he was finished, without having gone through his regular pregame warm-up, every seat in the area was already filled, and the match was about to start. He was taking time out to do countless interviews, up until the very moment of his match: ABCs Wide World of Sports requested that he tape a spot for them on the mat just minutes before the final. We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. It's all good. We got up, and he offered me his hand and we shook. After a slow start, "He had won more than 200 matches in high school.". In this conversation, we talk about Owings' childhood, high school career, and the match with Gable. My strategy was to throw everything I could at him, keep him so busy he wouldnt be able to get into a rhythm in the match, Owings later said. "He (Gable) was dazed and confused. I kind of wish he had gotten me with his best move.". With less than a minute remaining, the scoreboard showed Owings leading 9-8, but Gable actually had a 10-9 lead. Ive never wrestled after youve lost a match, and Im not going to do it now. Says Gable, You could say that this was my first coaching moment. He even had the honor of facing Dan Gable, then a sophomore at Iowa State and already a national champion. . Gable calls his loss to Larry Owings of Washington his greatest loss. Owings was a sophomore at the University of Washington, who had dropped two weight classes (from 158 to 142) just to get a shot at the legend. Results Placement Matches (16 Man) Team. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan smiled after being presented with a prayer book during a visit to Cardinal Hickey Academy on February 26, 2016 in. It's also a worthwhile read to find out more about Owings, who was an interesting figure in his own right. Conditioning was a big part of my preparation.". I have to agree with the other poster - Vincenzo Joseph over Imar has to be in the top 3. Its harder and harder now for Gable to feel the fire that was in him for so long, but he becomes alive again, the old wrestler with the mean streak, when he talks about the Owings match. Im emotional about it because theres still a lot of meaning Gable told, How Dan Gable coached Iowa to 15 team titles, The complete history of one of the greatest college wrestlers, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. He describes Owings as a "Charles Lindbergh persona, quietly confident," who believed he could equal Gable's strength and conditioning. It's full of great details like this in the aftermath of Gable's loss to Owings: With none of his family members in attendance that day, Owings remembers staggering around, trying to process what just happened. Many who were there that day use the same words to describe the strange aftermath: it was like a bomb went off. His four brothers, his classmates, even his coaches at Canby High when he started wrestling told him he was fat. [7] After competing sporadically from 1974 to 1975, Gable retired and became a full-time coach. 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. Larry Owens (born January 8, 1983) is an American professional basketball player. "Where are they Now: Catching up with Dan Gable and Larry Owings," Sports Illustrated (July 11, 2014), This page was last edited on 20 January 2023, at 03:38. As did one summer before high school, where he went to work for a Norwegian dairy farmer who had him hauling hay bales from dawn to dusk. Where Are They Now: Catching up with Cubs legend Ernie Banks. Gable would go for five mile runs, then get inside a car and, with the windows rolled up all the way, turn the heater on full blast so he would return to his ideal wrestling weight at the end of the day. The basement in the Gable home in Iowa City is full of trophies and trinkets and framed photos in glass cases; Dan Gable calls this part of the house the museum, and every museum must be a complete representation of history. No one had ever said something that, at least no one who could back it up. The final seconds ticked down, and it was actually Owings, in the lead, who went for a final takedown. Gable won @ 130 in '68. "Stunned was the word," Owings said of his first moments as the giant-killer. Dan stood there crying. "When I got to the tournament, I still felt fine - that I could win and do everything I thought I could do," Gable said. Phone: (319) 233-0745 Owings was very squirmy and hard to control., But Owings recollection, recorded immediately after his great victory, is probably still true to this day: When it was over, I looked at Dan, and he looked like he didnt know what had happened.. The most comprehensive list of wrestling tournaments all in one place. He noticed that the UW wrestler was making "all kinds of mistakes but still ended up pinning his opponent." "GABLE FALLS!" screamed the banner headline in the next day's Des Moines Register. After his Olympic title, he coached the Iowa Hawkeyes to 21 consecutive Big Ten titles and 15 national championships in his 21 years as head coach, going 355-21-5. [6], From 1971 to 1973, Gable competed internationally in freestyle wrestling. At Iowa State, he became an NCAA Division I national runner-up and two-time national champion. Jean was due to wrestle in the night's final match, and the PA announcer called for the match wrestlers: Jean had three minutes to get to the mat. Im emotional about it. 64-0. He was intrigued -- Dan and Kathy went to Washington to have a series of meetings at the White House. From 1967 to 1970, Gable attended Iowa State University, where he competed in folkstyle wrestling. Grant went up, Owings went. It was Gable's first loss of his collegiate wrestl. It happened March 28, 1970, at McGaw Hall, an 8,800-seat fieldhouse on the Northwestern University campus in Evanston, Ill. Gable was (and is) the god of the sport, a no-nonsense, punishing force who may have been the world's best-conditioned athlete. All Rights Reserved. His one collegiate loss, however, has become the most famous match from his wrestling tenure in his final match. Gable finished the scramble on top and ended the second period in the opposite manner of the first, this time holding the momentum and the power and the clock reset with two more minutes on the clock for the final period. "It's the biggest upset ever in the sport, and it's a fascinating story. Larry took the match to him.". Email: [email protected]. Through the windows an orange sun is sinking just beyond the towering pines, and light glows his pale bald head.