Dan Gable

Legendary athlete and coach Dan Gable was born and raised in Waterloo, Iowa. When Gable was just 15 years old his older sister, Diane, was tragically murdered in the family home. Although Gable has called his sister's death his "biggest loss," he did not allow this tragedy to define him. Instead, he thought of it as a reason to train with even more determination. His perseverance through this tragedy served as the diversion he and his family needed to survive. Wrestling truly saved his life.

During his high school and college wrestling careers, Gable compiled an unbelievable record of 181-1. He was undefeated in 64 high school matches while wrestling for West Waterloo High School and was 117-1 at Iowa State University. His only defeat came in the NCAA finals his senior year. Gable was a three-time Iowa High School state champion, a two-time NCAA National Wrestling Champion, and three-time all-American and three-time Big Eight champion.

After college, Gable added a title at the 1971 World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, and won a Gold Medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, without surrendering a single point. The Soviets came to the Olympics with only one goal in mind: to defeat Gable. They were unsuccessful.

Gable joined the University of Iowa coaching staff in 1972, as an assistant coach and took over the program in 1976. As the University of Iowa’s all-time winningest coach from 1976 to 1997, Gable led the team to 15 NCAA National Wrestling Team Titles while compiling a career 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.

The 1996-97 season added the final chapter to Gable’s storied career. He led the team to their 24th consecutive Big Ten title and 17th NCAA title. Iowa shattered its own NCAA team points record, scoring 170 points during the three-day tournament in Cedar Falls, Iowa at the UNI-Dome.

Gable retired from being a head coach after the 1997 season. He continues to promote the sport of wrestling and positive living through motivational speaking, being an advisor to The Dan Gable Wrestling Museum in Waterloo, Iowa, and The National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Additionally, he served as Assistant to the Director of Athletics at the University of Iowa until 2011.

In December of 2020, Gable was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation's highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors.

Gable has authored several books including New York Times Best Selling books, “A Wrestling Life” and “A Wrestling Life 2” in addition to owning a top motivational video, “Competitor Supreme”. Gable has also partnered with Silver Star Nutrition who has developed Gable Gold Nutrition. Single Speed Brewery in Waterloo, Iowa has also developed Gable Beer for the times to kick back!

Gable resides in Iowa City with his wife Kathy and has four daughters, 4 sons-in-law, and fourteen grandchildren.