Dan Gable is the Man
Gable became head wrestling coach at the University of Iowa in 1976, and went on to be the most successful coach in American collegiate history. From 1978 to 1986, the Hawkeyes won the NCAA title each year, a record nine in succession. He continued to coach the team until a sabbatical after the 1997 season due to the injuries keeping him from doing the hands-on coaching he thought his team deserves.
His 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 four gold, one silver and three bronze medalists. The Hawkeyes won 25 consecutive Big Ten championships, 21 under Gable as head coach and four while he was an assistant coach and administrator. He led them to a record 15 National titles.
Despite his success, Gable was not honored as Big Ten Coach of the Year until 1993, which was his 17th year as Iowa’s coach and his 17th Big Ten championship. By comparison, J Robinson of Minnesota has been given the award seven times in his career.
In 1997, the Hawkeyes were expected to lose to the favored Oklahoma State Cowboys. But Gable, who was by this time coaching on crutches after hip replacement surgery, led his team to its 17th NCAA team title and to an NCAA-record 170 points. A documentary following him that year “Freestyle: The Victories of Dan Gable” directed by Kevin Kelley and produced by David L. Gould aired on HBO 2.
In addition to his leadership at the college level, Gable was head coach of the United States Olympic team in freestyle wrestling in 1980, 1984, and 2000.
Gable’s successor at Iowa, Jim Zalesky, won three NCAA titles under him. It was announced on April 14, 2006, that Gable would be rejoining the coaching staff at Iowa as top assistant coach to current coach and former Gable national champion Tom Brands. He did spend time as an assistant athletic director at the University of Iowa until 2012.
Gable remains involved with the team, but stepped down from his assistant coach role in October 2011.
