Massachusetts USA Wrestling to co-sponsor a free Dan Gable Clinic in Natick, Sunday, Nov. 27
Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling
Massachusetts USA Wrestling has announced that it will co-sponsor a free wrestling clinic for wrestlers, coaches and fans in Natick, Mass., Sunday, Nov. 27.
It will be held at Natick High School, 15 West Street in Natick. A clinic will be held from 2:00 p.m. “5:00 p.m., followed by a 30-minute speech from Gable. All participants will have an opportunity to meet and greet Gable starting at 5:30 p.m.
Gable is a wrestling legend who continues to make a major impact on the sport at all levels. He currently works as an Assistant to the Director for the University of Iowa Athletic Department.
He served as head coach of the 1980, 1984 and 2000 U.S. Olympic freestyle wrestling teams. The 1980 team was unable to participate in the Moscow Olympics due to the U.S. boycott of the Games. The 1984 U.S. Olympic team dominated the Games, winning seven gold medals and two silver medals. The 2000 Olympic team, which Gable coached with co-head coaches John Smith and Greg Strobel, won four medals including one gold medalist.
Gable also served as the head coach of six U.S. World teams (1977, 1978, 1979, 1983, 1994, 1999). He was the head coach of the 1986 U.S. Goodwill Games team. Gable will serve as the head coach of the 2003 U.S. World Cup team, his 11th assignment as a World Cup head coach.
He is considered the most successful college coach of all time, setting numerous career records as the head coach for the Univ. of Iowa. His Iowa teams won 15 NCAA team titles during his 21-year career, including an amazing steak of nine in a row from 1978-86. He retired from college coaching after winning the 1997 NCAA team title, with a record number of team points and had five champions.
He served as an interim freestyle resident coach for USA Wrestling in 2003.
Gable was a 1972 Olympic gold medalist and 1971 World champion as an athlete, and won the respected Tbilisi Tournament in the Soviet Union in 1971. He was a two-time NCAA champion and an NCAA runner-up for Iowa State Univ. He only lost one match during his combined high school and college career. Gable originally hails from Waterloo, Iowa. He is a member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, and is the only wrestler inducted into U.S. Olympic Committee Hall of Fame.
During the clinic, donations will be accepted to the Mike Breau Scholarship Fund. Breau was a Natick High School wrestler, who served as the head coach at Hopkinton High School. Breau was killed this past summer in a motorcycle accident.
Other sponsors of the clinic are the New Hampshire Wrestling Coaches Association and the National Wrestling Coaches Association.
For information, contact Aaron Polansky, Massachusetts USA Wrestling State Chairperson, at [email protected] or via phone at 508-958-3328.
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