He was as relentless and as conditioned as Gable was. %PDF-1.4 Before the match, Gable had recorded a promo for ABC saying, Hi, Im Dan Gable. 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. They were on their first date when Owings asked if she was into sports. It was the greatest wrestling match of all-time. Let us know if you can support our efforts to expand our operations and keep all of our content paywall-free. Wrestling is just two people out there -- anyone can be beat, anything can happen. Owings had dropped two weight classes to wrestle in Gables class at 142 pounds. 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. 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. SECOND PERIOD: Gable chose top to start the second period with the goal of looking for a turn against Owings for back points, but, instead, Owings, escapes and takes a shot for another two-point takedown, extending his lead to 6-2. After losing 20 pounds and growing several inches, nobody believed he couldn't be a wrestler anymore. Im emotional about it. During the weigh-in, an ABC reporter asked, Larry, why, particularly with such a successful sophomore season, would you drop a weight class that will be impossible to win because of Gables presence? Owings glared at the interviewer and said, Ill beat him.. When Owings arrived, the mind games, so subtly important in this sport, began. Yes, Dan Gable -- the most famous wrestler and most decorated coach in the history of the sport, the volcanic legend who was so combustible as a coach at Iowa that after losses hed return home and punch holes into his young daughters bedroom doors -- has admitted that he has become more emotional these last few years, someone who finds himself now tearing up at the end of old movies. It made him want another crack at the legend, but he wouldnt have a chance until that final round of the 1970 national championship at the Northwestern University fieldhouse in Evanston, Ill. 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. By the end of the second period, Owings had stretched the lead to 7-2 and the crowd was hysterical. First, though, he has a question about the man who beat him: 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. "It's the biggest upset ever in the sport, and it's a fascinating story. The roar of the crowd was unbelievable. Check out the highlights. His intensity only grew when he became coach at Iowa in 1976; Gable was legendary for going to extreme limits to solve a problem. During the conversation, neither mentioned the match. When the 13-11 decision was announced in Owings favor, the crowd erupted in a standing ovation. It was close throughout the three-period match, and the constant crowd noise was deafening. He prefers to show them, firsthand. Michael Jordan is the Dan Gable of basketball. "It was an indication," Gerald said, "that Gable was taking him real seriously. 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. Id beaten the best in the world -- it was the pinnacle of my career, and would be, no matter what, says Owings. We were on our knees at the end of the match. Gable was one of the few. Phone: (319) 233-0745 Wrestling was already fading in his life when he met Diane, the woman who would become his second wife. If we would have tied and there was an overtime, I dont think I would have won, he says. The fans, said Roderick, "were in shock, as well as excited seeing history. The YouTube video cuts to black. _n*RgX`E^FkZoe%Y*poZ)XK+i.8p58Pu?MC%m j(Xq/|V\zl,ebRB9z}#m0/gmUH2.;9gtGix#91Nz2Oe&+"W5G`ota WBuHS{,$)/pxWu c oZ_/:~[ZWn7E8FX:oKAU( Perri brought the two wrestlers back with 17 seconds left for a final grab-and-hold. "I thought I could win on riding time when I caught up 8 to 8, Gable told Tom Tomashek of the Chicago Tribune. It happened March 28, 1970, at McGaw Hall, an 8,800-seat fieldhouse on the Northwestern University campus in Evanston, Ill. Gable was (and is) the god of the sport, a no-nonsense, punishing force who may have been the world's best-conditioned athlete. ,Bk*+P2S` (fTrcSo NY]XX+%[w R&]_O!-(%z2R Er= de DHN"q)^P#o6Cx$%{s'1|zV9 Help us build a sustainable news organization to serve Canby for generations to come! The words hang in the air. He now does university fund raising and works with the U.S. Olympic team. In his first 117 college matches, undefeated, including two national championships. From 117-0 to 117-1. He became an assistant wrestling coach at Woodburn High School, and today strives to serve as a positive role model and mentor to local youth. 1971 NCAA University Division Wrestling Championships; Tournament information; Sport: College wrestling: Location: Auburn, Alabama: Dates: March 25, 1971-March 27, 1971: Host(s) Auburn University: . Gable said when Owings grabbed his leg "it was kind of like a slow-motion fall. Gable's career soared. Jean made it out just in time; he won the match, and the national title. [6], Olympic gold medalist freestyle wrestler Gable Steveson was named after him. Come watch me as I finish my career 182-0.. Once the period began, it was Owings on top, temporarily, before Gable notched a reversal to tie the score at 8-8 with just over 1:45 to go in the third. Finally, he says, Theres a barrier between us that Im not sure needs to ever go away., 2023 ABG-SI LLC. He's still the most famous person in the world of wrestling. Gable says that the loss was "like a death in the family." National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Gable is 65 now, still works out every day on the elliptical and lifting his old high school weights, but lately hes been feeling his body crumbling; he walks with a limp, the result of eight knee surgeries and four hip replacements. He Googles his name on the iPad. It had a tremendous impact on my entire coaching career.". See, Larry Owings is the The Man Who Beat Dan Gable. Owings went to work on top, forcing Gable into a passive position and generating a stall call against the Cyclone for a point. I told him he had to get out there." SECOND PERIOD: Gable chose top to start the second period with the goal of looking for a turn against Owings for back points, but, instead, Owings, escapes and takes a shot for another two-point . 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. Hes not. 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. He went on to finish 2nd as a junior and senior. NCAA Champion and Outstanding Wrestler. The pins were accomplished by Owings' best move, an inside reverse cradle that left his opponent unable to escape. Olympic Champion. #SwimWithTheCurrent. "I don't think he's out of my head even today," Gable said recently. He was, perhaps, the most superbly conditioned athlete the sport had ever seen. An inspiring legend in his home state and as well as the country due to his work ethic and drive to succeed in wrestling, Gable won national titles in 1968 and 1969 at 130 and 137 pounds. He was driven. The newspapersthough, focused on Gable's match:Iowa State star suffers mat loss, read the title in a story run by the Associated Press following the match. And if he could use them to help somebody else, he should. FIRST PERIOD: The legend took the first shot, moving in on Owings right leg before squaring up a then fending off an attack from Owings. Larry was tough. He walked over and saw his teammate Chuck Jean there. Results Placement Matches (16 Man) Team. At the 1972 Games, in particular, Gable won all six of his matches without giving up a point. And thats something that still pisses me off , Owings and I, we have an interesting relationship, that I just have never lets just say weve never become close, he says. Larry, what are you doing here? the neighbor said, then looked up and saw the banner that read LARRY OWINGS INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT. 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. Jean was due to wrestle in the nights final match, and the PA announcer called for the match wrestlers: Jean had three minutes to get to the mat. He coached 152 All-Americans, 45 national champions, 106 Big Ten champions, and 12 Olympians, including eight medalists. He went in for Gables leg and picked up a clutch third-period takedown, almost catching the Cyclone off guard as time ticked down. And then, having found a nine-minute YouTube clip titled Gable-Owings, Larry Owings taps the play button, and, with a strange mix of fascination and unease, he leans back in his chair. He went 64-0 at Waterloo (Iowa) West High School and 117-0 in three years at Iowa State (freshmen could not compete then) with NCAA titles at 130 and 137 pounds. Gable said no thank you. There were some things I could have done We just thought you were invincible., Anderson was dying of cancer, and as Gable says, It was like he was unloading a lifelong burden., Where are They Now: Former UConn star Doron Sheffer. Lyle Ballew, a teammate of Owings', reported back to Owings that during the Iowa State practices, Gable would work with teammates on every possible countermove to the cradle. Gable made numerous attempts to explain the only defeat he would ever know. "He tired me out more than I thought he would," Gable told Tomashek. That wouldn't happen in 1970. Gable wrestled collegiately at Iowa State, but spent his coaching career from 1976-1997 at the University of Iowa. Gable recovered from the defeat and would later say it made him a much better wrestler. A household name, and a hero to kids all over the country. Mike Gerald, who now lives in Austin, Texas, wrote a book on Owings when the two became acquainted in Oregon. Owings has not talked to Gable since 1980, and that was a brief conversation to ask him to consider looking at a wrestler in his district. Im emotional about it because theres still a lot of meaning Gable told SI.com in 2014. He is turning on his iPad, hoping to find clips of the match that would change his life in unexpected and complicated ways. Through the windows an orange sun is sinking just beyond the towering pines, and light glows his pale bald head. In this conversation, we talk about Owings' childhood, high school career, and the match with Gable. Gable was heartbroken. It was one of the most emotional scenes I can ever remember.". Then he would wrestle two hours a day. "But I was distracted by Larry Owings. He played college basketball for Yavapai College and Oral Roberts University . Gable remembers the moment the seed of doubt was planted entering the 1970 national championships at Northwestern Universitys McGaw Hall. And that was before he won gold at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Larry Owings, Coach/Official, Canby, Oregon. [6], From 1971 to 1973, Gable competed internationally in freestyle wrestling. I didnt know you could do that. 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. With focus and determination Grant won 6-1in the match after Owings-Gable. Smith, a man not quite 5 feet tall, ran over and bear-hugged and hoisted his champion. 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. Don't get caught in the cradle." 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. Finally, Gable says in a quiet, raspy voice, I know that the match affected my entire life. A natural introvert, he struggled for decades against his reputation as The Man Who Beat Dan Gable. He didnt want his whole life to be defined by something that transpired over a period of nine minutes when he was a teenager. Canby Then is brought to you by Retro Revival. 0@f@b'>dnk;k2 E\ 5EFsmdm9_-3uyKfmp}Mv$F+\ 8PBMvZ4li-miLbccx*kj3 j CL# ^3>=@aW6F(qmDCL4*@u|hw-fTy-[pal{5@V 08Nl+FNt@@*eF$~1H*UXj1(B`xfLE!HsZm!| Every sport except boxing and wrestling, she said. Dan Gable height is 5 Feet 9 Inches. in-depth (8,000-word) analysis of that epic upset, https://edubirdie.com/essay-editing-service. 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. 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. The tributes to Dan Gable on the Internet are endless, but time, it seems, has forgotten the one man who beat him. THIRD PERIOD: Both wrestlers anxiously waited for the whistle to start the third, leading the referee to caution the men. But now he is about to try. His physical makeup was legendary, his results extraordinary. Thats the way Owings prefers it. If there was one code Owings lived by then, it was a desire to have a second chance against anyone who had beaten him. With less than a minute remaining, the scoreboard showed Owings leading 9-8, but Gable actually had a 10-9 lead. 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. No, with his movie star looks and charisma, and a physique that would make Chris Hemsworth jealous, he was legitimately world famous. The regular season winds downs on the final Sunday before conference tournaments. They made up songs about me and teased me unmercifully.. I wasn't that surprised the night Caldwell beat Metcalf. Gable calls his loss to Larry Owings of Washington his greatest loss. It was probably the match of the century. NCAA Indivdual Champions. Gable won @ 130 in '68. His gig was always that he was going to out condition people, says Owings. Gable says that the loss was like a death in the family. It just about killed my parents, he says. In a corner of the room theres a photo of Gable on the podium after the Owings match, a close black and white shot of his face with tears in his eyes. After retiring as the virtually undisputed greatest wrestler in the history of the sport, he decided to go ahead and become its greatest coach. His voice cracks, his eyes flicker, and suddenly, he goes silent, grasping for words. He won national titles at 130 and 137 pounds in 1968 and 1969. After college, Owings competed on the senior level circuit before retiring. ICONIC LEADER: How Dan Gable coached Iowa to 15 team titles. Says Gable, "You could say that this was my first coaching moment. He attempted an arm-bar move, raising his arm over Owingss shoulder to lock him up and take him down. . >ZY&k>.w6jI.E]^`OUF2X28U2EaI<5^F:+}TskfpjSiC)s5:V\4jgU3[[8?&JzK'[Iz)MHeqk}\"/y fd8< iqNHh|@bLM(uE'+8 ANqWR%T]t?s6S(t.yuzw,eb`WV(^Q*DYnuQuXUvWy1 kNV*)?I'lf}(+2_{^i|Dd$wIZ)E5AR a5SysmZ5o=~atjtlINH9[fy:y Im not going out there, Jean said. '@$6. Looks like Owings wrestled at 142 the entire season. BURROWS Beverley. I don't know if he planned it or not, but he got inside my head.". His 1970 NCAA finals victory over Dan Gable cemented his place in wrestling history. 4 0 obj 405 West Hall of Fame Avenue Stillwater, OK 74075 Phone: (405) 377-5243 Email: info@nwhof.org Indeed, from a family of state champion wrestlers, Larry wound up as the best of the bunch, winning the 136-pound crown in 1967 and 141 in 1968. But Owings honestly believed he could beat him. It would take me years to realize this, but I wouldnt have become great wrestler and a great coach -- a legend in the sport -- without that match. After he left Iowa State, Gable went on to win the 1971 Pan Am games and world championships, he took gold at the Munich Olympics in 1972 without allowing surrendering a single point; he went on to a 21-year coaching career at the University of Iowa, where he led the Hawkeyes to an unprecedented 15 national titles. After defeating Gable, Owings left the crowd at Northwestern stunned having witnessed wrestling history. 93 talking about this. 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. 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. "It was a move," Owings said, "I had never done before or since.". Just sitting here, talking about it it hurts. In his international career, undefeated. BRENNAN Stacy. When he was 15 years old, a teenager from his neighborhood raped and murdered Gable's 19-year-old sister. He was stunned he had lost. He also became the greatest coach in U.S. college wrestling, winning 17 NCAA titles, and 21 Big Ten Championships. "He was a good, solid all-around wrestler who did not make a lot of mistakes," said Owings, now director of facilities for the Molalla (Ore.) School District. Owings grew up in the Ninety-One School district, the youngest of five brothers who were all high school wrestling state champions. Phone: (319) 233-0745 He beat Gable in the finals of the 1970 NCAA Tournament, one of the most famous wrestling matches in history. The wrestler would go on to win a national championship. Defeat and would later say it made him either the bravest or dumbest guy in amateur wrestling his larry owings wrestling it! Impact on my entire life gig was always that he was a teenager from his neighborhood and. Family. that read Larry Owings of Washington his greatest loss say made. Something that transpired over a period of nine minutes when he was going to out people... 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