Mike Gerald, who now lives in Austin, Texas, wrote a book on Owings when the two became acquainted in Oregon. National Wrestling Hall of Fame. 971K views, 7.2K likes, 334 loves, 948 comments, 4.9K shares, Facebook Watch Videos from NCAA Wrestling: Only one man stopped Dan Gable in his college career: Larry Owings. Larry Owings Invitational - Wrestling Event - FloWrestling Larry Owings Invitational Larry Owings Invitational on Dec 21, 2013 in Canby, OR. Earlier in the day, without any prodding, he brought up the murder of his sister Diane in 1964. Come watch me as I finish my career 182-0.. Gable was inducted into the USA Wrestling Hall . Smith successfully argued with the seeding committee for his wrestler, who would finish 33-1 that year, to get the second seed behind Gable. Within the first 30 seconds, Gable got up 2-0 with a takedown, but Owings came back on a takedown and escape to lead, 3-2. 6LkY/XL6dU1unSo^lR;frWn*"jlj,GW{jEvk\mF4?QxIgT ,z-&T($!a-!68xk In fact, the result was so expected that Gable filmed a commercial with ABCs Wide World of Sports encouraging viewers to watch his final match by saying "Hi, Im Dan Gable. Iowa State's Dan Gable had one of the most legendary careers in college wrestling, pinning 76 of his 118 opponents during his three years as a starter for the Cyclones and amassing a nearly flawless record on his way to two NCAA titles. 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. Odds & lines subject to change. Many who were there that day use the same words to describe the strange aftermath: it was like a bomb went off. "He was in excellent condition. His 1970 NCAA finals victory over Dan Gable cemented his place in wrestling history. He has one VHS cassette of the broadcast but the tape is the only copy of the match hes ever owned, so worn that hes afraid that if he runs it in the VCR one more time the tape will be ruined forever. It is the subject of an old wrestling match from 44 years ago that has him go silent. 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: . Feeling stripped of his powers after his loss, Gable was finding out what it was like to be human. It had a tremendous impact on my entire coaching career.". Owings grew up in the Ninety-One School district, the youngest of five brothers who were all high school wrestling state champions. But Larry Owings had tremendous credentials of his own. 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. He respected his pinning ability.". Leading 7-2, Owings continued to ride Gable before Gable notched a reversal and put himself back on track with a 7-4 score. Gable asked Jean as he stood there under the water. 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. He growls, What I dont understand, and what still pisses me, off is that how, I did not get up properly for the biggest match of the year. 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. Every sport except boxing and wrestling, she said. Gable got his rematch against Larry Owings, who handed Gable his only defeat at Iowa State, when he defeated Owings in the 1972 Olympic Trials. THIRD PERIOD: Both wrestlers anxiously waited for the whistle to start the third, leading the referee to caution the men. He also has a museum named for him in his hometown of Waterloo, Iowa, part of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum. Email: info@nwhof.org, 303 Jefferson St. Who wants to be known for just one thing? He thinks about what would have happened if he would have lost his match: maybe he wouldnt have entered a failed marriage in 1970 just months after the match (Maybe she wouldnt have married me if I wouldnt have been a winner, he says), maybe he would have pushed himself harder to become an Olympian. Just sitting here, talking about it it hurts. 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. Each wore white headgear and white kneepads. Im emotional about it because theres still a lot of meaning Gable told SI.com in 2014. Is the hardest S.O.B. He holed himself up in his room, he didn't talk to anyone, he didn't even return his parents' phone calls. Yes. 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. The final seconds ticked down, and it was actually Owings, in the lead, who went for a final takedown. He went on to the sensational international and Olympic career that has already been described. Gable began scouting Owings' matches. "It was a move," Owings said, "I had never done before or since.". But Dan Gable, of course, is so much more than one result. [6], Olympic gold medalist freestyle wrestler Gable Steveson was named after him. Is that so? With focus and determination Grant won 6-1in the match after Owings-Gable. <> All Rights Reserved. Wrestling never came up until they went on a date later in their relationship and two strangers walked up to them and asked for Owings autograph. [6], From 1971 to 1973, Gable competed internationally in freestyle wrestling. He was going for his third title at 142 pounds, and virtually everyone thought he was a lock. How Tall Is Dan Gable? 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. That softie had been nowhere to be found earlier in on this day as he navigated his black pickup through Iowa City while downing cans of Mountain Dew and breathlessly telling rollicking old wrestling stories that crackle like firecrackers. 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. 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. Gable said he learned not to take an opponent lightly, to eliminate distractions and accentuate an aura of invincibility and intimidation toward an opponent, just as Owings had done to him. If he had won two national championships it would be easier, but he never went to the Olympics and didn't do much international wrestling.". Im not going out there, Jean said. The YouTube video cuts to black. Great article, Mark, thanks. He played college basketball for Yavapai College and Oral Roberts University . After the defeat, Gable won gold medals at the 1971 world championships as well as the 1972 Olympics. Two years ago, Gable got the call that Dianes killer had died in prison. Larry was tough. 93 talking about this. I didn't know he passed away in 2013, but that explains the omission of Joseph/Martinez. "After that match, it took me a long time to really admit a lot of things," Gable said. He lost only once, in the final match of his final season at Iowa State University. Larry Owings, on the other hand, returned to Oregon, and faded into obscurity, at least as far as the wrestling world was concerned. Before the match, Gable had recorded a promo for ABC saying, Hi, Im Dan Gable. I told him I used to wrestle in North Dakota, won a state championship in 1987. It was simple: I wanted to beat the guy who beat me, says Owings. "I'm not going to this tournament to be a national champion. 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. Olympic Champion. In his final meeting, he sat face to face with Karl Rove, who made the mistake of saying something to the effect of, Youll do what we tell you to do. Overall Gable had lost just four matchesall of them while wrestling under unfamiliar international freestyle rules and in competitions in which he, though a promising youngster, clearly had been in over his head. Iowa State had won the national team championship, but Gable's loss dominated the headlines. Gable remembers the moment the seed of doubt was planted entering the 1970 national championships at Northwestern Universitys McGaw Hall. Gable is in the U.S. Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Okla. Owings, despite a national title and an 87-4 record at Washington (52-1 in dual meets), is not. After retiring as the virtually undisputed greatest wrestler in the history of the sport, he decided to go ahead and become its greatest coach. In his first 117 college matches, undefeated, including two national championships. NCAA Indivdual Champions. Desperation is something that brings out unusual things," Gable said. Gable never lost before he faced Owings in that match, nor after it. 2023 NCAA | Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Dan Gable vs. Larry Owings: FULL 1970 NCAA title match at 142 pounds, I know that the match affected my entire life. The crowd edged forward. >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 Unbelievably, Mr. Flasche was my neighbor and customer at my pharmacy when he moved to our tiny, beautiful town of Troy, MT in the early 2000s. 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. Gable wrestled collegiately at Iowa State, but spent his coaching career from 1976-1997 at the University of Iowa. It's famous in part because of . The most comprehensive list of wrestling tournaments all in one place. I enjoyed your article and with no intention of being critical. "Owings was very squirmy and hard to control.. You can find youth folkstyle wrestling tournaments as well as Freestyle and Greco-Roman events. With a score of 8-6, Gable again worked for back points before a scramble ensued. He attempted an arm-bar move, raising his arm over Owingss shoulder to lock him up and take him down. What bothered him was how he was always introduced to the room, but now, it almost makes him proud, the words, Larry Owings. All people still wanted to talk about was that match, he says. After beating up on them, he thought to himself, OK, I'm still good. Larry Owings, The Man Who Beat Gable, What happened to Larry Owings? After losing 20 pounds and growing several inches, nobody believed he couldn't be a wrestler anymore. A few years ago, the Republican Party recruited Gable to run for governor of Iowa. The result, though unexpected, put the crowd of 8,500 on its feet throughout the match and gave them [the athletes] a shattering ovation when it ended, per the New York Times. Iowa shocked college baseball on Saturday, dominating top-ranked LSU 12-4 in the Karbach Round Rock Classic. Owings neighbor and close friend of two decades showed up to a tournament a few years ago and saw Owings in the stands wearing a shiny purple Washington jacket. 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. NCAA Champion and Outstanding Wrestler. "I don't think he's out of my head even today," Gable said recently. What are you doing? And when I was younger, I really was pretty fat. 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 won 117 college wrestling matches with impressive dominance, setting a tone and a pace that few could match. But now it is late afternoon, and Gable is sitting at a desk in the cabin behind his house that is his place of refuge, and his throat has closed. They haven't talked to each other since. 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. When he was 15 years old, a teenager from his neighborhood raped and murdered Gable's 19-year-old sister. Now I read this and learn his win was the greatest upset in wrestling history at the time and still ranks in the top three. He had pinned everyone in the 1970s national tournament before this match, and he was considered to be the unquestionable favorite against a wrestler he beat two years prior at the Olympic Trials. Maybe it does but maybe it doesn't. "There was probably not 10 people in that crowd of 9,000 or so who would have bet on Owings," Oklahoma State Coach Myron Roderick said. Graduated from Canby High School where he was a two-time OSAA champion. This was the featured match of the tournament. At the 1972 Games, in particular, Gable won all six of his matches without giving up a point. 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. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. He noticed that the UW wrestler was making "all kinds of mistakes but still ended up pinning his opponent." Canby Then is brought to you by Retro Revival. Earned bachelor's degree and master's degree in education from the University of Washington. In fact, Gable would emerge from the Owings match stronger, more determined. Owings briefly wrestled internationally and retired in 1973 to his home in Oregon. In his senior season at Iowa State, Gable lost the only match of his amateur wrestling career to Larry Owingsa sophomore from the University of Washingtonin the NCAA 142-pound national championship. 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. v%NoBPXw From 1967 to 1970, Gable attended Iowa State University, where he competed in folkstyle wrestling. Gable says that the loss was "like a death in the family." The next match featured Grant, like Gable a defending Champion from 1969. zF\LxW"ve(1t^~W#ZxD!K(BTvA;h\5Ij _IAial&$prh~PZdm%6/LmJLU^+qLq) 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 . Dan Gable will tell you that eighty percent of wrestling matches are decided before the first whistle blows. 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. How Much Is Dan Gable Worth? AZ, CO, CT, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, (select parishes), MD, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY, CA-ONT only.Eligibility restrictions apply. His results were extraordinary. WA Death Notices. That makes it worse now from my point of view. 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