About 75 adults and dozens of young wrestlers heard Coach Dan Gable speak at a grand opening event at the Jefferson Fieldhouse Tuesday evening.
Gable was introduced by Power Lift owner Jeff Connor, who shared his recollection of the first wrestling meet held in Jefferson in the “new” high school practice gym in 1966. He also told of wrestling against Gable at a wrestling camp at Okoboji when they were young. Connor listed some of Gable’s accomplishments as a wrestler and as a coach, and said, “The thing that amazes me the most is what he is as a person, how he affects people every day.”
Gable talked for about 25 minutes and then answered questions for another 20 minutes. He talked about his book, “A Wrestling Life,” published by University of Iowa Press earlier this year. The book was available for purchase and autographing, and many of the people in the audience were holding copies of it.
Gable talks frequently and undoubtedly tells many of the same things to every audience. A new part of his “talk” was his story of spending 90 minutes earlier this week with Donald Trump as Trump worked him for an endorsement in his presidential campaign. Trump wrestled a year in high school. “He said ‘don’t tell nobody’, so keep this under your hat,” Gable said. Trump told Gable, “all I remember is there was a sign on the ceiling that said ‘if you’re reading this, you’re being pinned.’ And I read that sign every day over and over and over again…. That’s why I really respect you, because you’re a champion wrestler. But don’t tell nobody about my wrestling.”
Gable said he hadn’t decided about an endorsement.
He liberally used quotes from himself. He answered the question “What was your toughest match?” with “My next one, every time.” “I won 181 straight matches over seven years. then I lost. And then I got good.” “Adversity – Take it over. Take it on.” “It’s not about the trophies. They just happen to accumulate when you win all the time.”
The young wrestlers were seated on the floor very close to Gable, and he directed many of his comments to them. He told them the reason for learning geometry and physics is become better wrestlers. “It’s all about leverage and positioning,” he said.
He also reminded them of the four Rs: reading, writing, ‘rithmetic and wrestling.
