Dan Gable vs Larry Owings

[@dannac.9690]

I would be mad at Larry owings, but he made Dan Gable into an even tougher wrestler. Without Larry, Dan wouldn't have gone unscored upon in the olympics

[@Abernier3]

Great video. While Gable is the legend, I heard that Owings actually cut weight to get to Gable, while everyone else was trying to avoid facing him. What a moment in sports history. Cool.

[@alexandro420]

Thanks for posting this. This loss is what drove Gable to work his ass off and eventually become an olympic champ.

[@joebuck4957]

The energy level of Owings at the end of the match was incredible. Very few shot attempts by Gable. Owings applied a few very good whizzers and he had the guts to throw a firemans carry

[@001snipe]

This may very well be the best match I've ever seen.

[@wesleypark2157]

I go to Iowa, and I met Dan Gable. He was friendly yet intimidating. You could feel his intensity aura from 50 feet away

[@TheJamesmichel]

I was sitting on the edge of the mat that night,leaning back on my elbow,as a sophomore in high-school. Our coach had brought us down from Milwaukee to Evanstan to watch the semis and finals. Dan Gable was my idol at the time. Seeing him lose that night taught me,as great as you are or think you are, there's always somebody out there that's better. Anybody for starting an old-timer tourny?

[@bobklein571]

These two guys went Balls to the walls for 9 minutes straight... Great cardio

[@garrison968]

I saw this live. No one at all expected it.

[@henry-joemurphy1286]

...Wow! That's cool. I know Gable was beaten before he got on the mat. The whole thing with what Owings was doing psyched him out, and admits it now.

[@henry-joemurphy1286]

All in all, this makes the Dan Gable story better, plus it ad's a great dimension by telling the Larry Owings story which it seems to me is the entire premise behind the cult B-Movie classic, "VISION QUEST" starring Matthew Modine. Gable was defeated before he ever took the mat in this match... Owings psyched him out by what he was doing. Cable wrestled scared, defensive and "not to lose" rather than go out there and be aggressive like always and put it to his opponents. My hat's off to Larry Owings for having the BALLS to challenge himself to something as ambitious as beating the undefeated 3-Time NCAA Champ... This is the wrestling equivalent to Buster Douglas KO'ing Mike Tyson. If they fought 10 times Tyson would've knocked him out 9. I don't think Owings would've EVER beaten Gable again, but THIS was certainly HIS night and deserves a lot of credit and respect for beating the best there ever was in the sport up to this time. Pretty cool story in every dimension.

[@1bbasket]

Henry-Joe Murphy :then gable goes out and dominated the Olympics and college wrestling for decades. True drama!!!

[@thomasa62]

That psyched idea is bull. Owings was ready for him and up to the challenge. At 181-0 for his career Gable was not scared of anyone, just got beat, Period.

[@bravo2zeroCAN]

@@thomasa62 Gable himself says differently, actually. He said that he was psyched out by Owings' attitude, and in particular, a headline in the paper that he saw the night before. Owings said he came to beat one guy: Gable. When Owings was asked why he dropped 2 weight classes to fight in a class he would certainly lose, he said: "I'll beat him." Then Gable was distracted by interviews and other such nonsense. So much so that he didn't do his usual pre-match warm-up.

[@bravo2zeroCAN]

Totally agree H-J!

[@thomasa62]

@@bravo2zeroCAN Have you ever wrestled? Play contact sports? Once the whistle blows and contact is made that psyche stuff is not a factor. Watch the match and you will see Gable got the first takedown clearly showing no hesitation or reservation. This is sport and 32-2 can beat 181-0, just not often. At 6:45 Gable almost dislocates Owings socket but Owings refused to turn when most wrestlers would have. Owings out wrestled him, period.

[@jimboslice9472]

Gable didn't just lose, he got DISTROID!! Distroid so bad that most people don't even acknowledge the 180+ collegiate wins he had, just the 1 loss

[@yahowa57]

The award ceremony, as depicted in a Sports Illustrated story, was emotional. As Gable stepped forward to accept his medal,then stepped back on his pedastel,and couldn't raise his head from his chest. The fans ,as one , rose in tribute, applauding. After two minutes plus, it continued and Gable raised his head from his chest and looked straight ahead, with dignity. Still remember the story to this day.

[@chip8989]

That was awesome. Thanks for posting.

[@giantmetfan97]

When he looks back on this in a interview he was saying that losing is something he needed to experience even though he wanted to win it really bad and he's right about tht

[@ndwrestler]

@d3vilscry666 yea. minus the constant lateral drops lol

[@ScrewFakePpl]

everyone must experence a loss. everyone does. it was either dan gable losing in the oplymics or this match. he needed to get the loss out of his way. i believe that gable was the best wrestler to live. but dont get me wrong. i give plenty of respect to larry owings.

[@fourtwin]

@pizza1960man I watched a Gable interview after this fight and he made NO excuses. Also having a flu/running a fever would have factored big into him keeping his proper weight for the fight.

[@maxrebo1141]

Morals to the story: 1. Anyone can be beaten 2. You learn more from losing than from winning

[@kjkjkjkjkjkj2008]

some people are born with a talent, Gable's was wrestling. It was great to watch the talent on display. His biggest challenge at that moment was dealing with a loss, and he crumbled. If you're great at your job, but then one day your boss walks in and says you screwed up, and instead of keeping you witts, you start crying in front of everybody, then you're not a great role model, you're just great at what you do.

[@wakeywakey4289]

The very last match of Gables collegiate career....thats gotta sting.

[@henry-joemurphy1286]

But in retrospect, probably as he would admit, the best thing that ever happened to him. He re-doubled his commitment to the sport and went on to win an Olympic Gold Medal (without even being scored a single point on) and breaking every NCAA Championship record (in any sport) as a coach.

[@TristanandIsolt]

I feel so sorry for Dan..... NOT! The poor guy lost a match. Only won three NCAAs and an Olympic gold.

[@rpllieb]

@@henry-joemurphy1286 very well put, Sir . ( Nobody scored on him ! )

[@southtxmis]

@TheJamesmichel i drove in from iowa as a senior in high school. dave martin was from my home town. it was simply devistating, then, dave won his ncaa title

[@rpllieb]

1967 Alamosa Colorado (Adams State) they pounded into our head two on one .. !! (arm control) Take the wrist to the ankle ! Owings prepared well for this match. To this day Dan Gable and Kael Sanderson are my heroes .

[@MikeProvocateur-tu2jl]

Dan Gable just got beat. I listened to him in an interview talking about how Owings got a chance to prepare for him and all of that stuff. Bottom line: he got beat. I imagined Owings had to prepare for other matches and not just Gable. Otherwise he would not have gotten that far in advancing. I am a UW fan. Too bad we don't have wrestling anymore. It is a fun sport win or lose, really and.

[@henry-joemurphy1286]

Gable admits in other interviews that he was completely psyched-out by Owings. He was beat before he stepped on the mat. Everybody knew that Owings was on a single mission, "Beat Dan Gable." ...It messed with Dan's mind WHY he was doing this... he wrestled not to lose, he wrestled defensively instead of aggressively. But at the end of the day, as Gable says it, it made him a better wrestler in the long run, and it taught him that he never wanted to stand on the 2nd place platform again and that from this point on he would never enter a match (as wrestler or coach) without being physically and MENTALLY prepared.

[@TrevorHamberger]

thank title IX for your school not having wrestling anymore kzbin.info/www/bejne/naHdnYKGbdWdqdE

[@jimquantic]

@Randohm Well, you are right of course. People want imperfect heroes, and never loosing makes it hard for people to relate to you.

[@jimquantic]

Are there ANY videographers who could clean up this tape, make it better?

[@MrSpudd5]

Dan Gable is my hero

[@84wrestling]

At the end of the match just watch gable it tells you everything how he touched lerrys hand and how slowly and stuff just me as a wrestler it brakes my heart but lerry won congrats to him but wow the biggest upset in history

[@ThatRicanKid97]

You know, most people would want to have a career like Dan Gables, but I want to have a career like Owings.

[@tharealminipunch]

9:03 - 9:17. breath-taking.

[@omgnoobpwn3r]

the biggest diference between todays wrestlers and older era is that the old wrestlers were tougher than shit they would drop so much weight and go in to beat the crap out of their opponents but today its harder to cut weight with all the rules and regulations. i think there is a diferent style occuring and not so much skill that is getting better. either way gable is a great wrestler probably the best America ever had.

[@barryb83110]

Owings came to wrestle, and this wasn't Gable's finest match. I remember Dan was constantly messing with his contacts. Regardless, both men became my heroes; Owings for beating a legend, Gable for creating a more powerful legend after defeat. I still cry when I watch it.

[@user828B]

Why doesn’t this have more views? It’s sitting at 308k

[@swimhurl]

Where is the audio

[@PhatalOne]

That was a tough lost for Gable. I remember attending wrestling camp with the Oklahoma Sooners (I wrestled in Georgia) and the head coach telling us the story of this match. Gable was an athlete and I wouldn't know anyone who wouldn't have been just as diappointed with a lost like that in your final collegiate match.

[@Jargonaught]

@jcalhoun421991 rules were different back then weren't they?

[@turbojb]

My Favorite is Gable Crying at the end.

[@AhPhoey]

Wrestling has come so far since then. That looks like a high school match compared to wrestlers of now.

[@brucewilson1295]

Gable would be a great wrestler now, then or tom,orrow

[@henry-joemurphy1286]

Dan Gable's also largely responsible for the state of wrestling today. He continued to help advance the sport in every realm from training, weight lifting, psychology etc for several decades after his own college and olympic career was over. He's the winningest coach in the history of college wrestling and took the Iowa Hawkeyes to win more national titles than any coach in any sport in NCAA History. Yes, the wrestlers of today would dominate the wrestlers from the 70's as the tennis players, basketball players, football players etc... What hasn't changed and what very few, even in this day and age do, is commit themselves 110% to the sport and work ethic, determination and intensity that Dan Gable brought to the sport... He helped tremendously in pushing the sport to where it is today.

[@user-tz6rk4dy5s]

No it really doesn't, the shots thrown and the combinations done/attempted and the defense of both wrestlers are college level and then some!

[@harvertm2102]

He is right. They stay on their Knees longer, they reach for the head on bottom, and their setups are fairly basic You can't deny that wrestling has advanced just like any other sport. It's probably been driven by increased participation ( larger talent pool), mass media making information more accessible, access to high level camps( how many high school kids could fly across the country the 60's), etc. None of that diminishes Gable's greatness.

[@kokilananda]

IMO, it seems Gable was a little passive throughout the whole match. He didn't go after it. He didn't attack as much as he should. Still, the greatest wrestler of All time.

[@DOWORKINATOR]

dan gable was obviously a technically strong wrestler, but his greatest strength was his unbeatable conditioning and endurance, as well as the fact that he was the best scrambler of all time.

[@ssgjaymo]

@ 1:07 Larry O got a 1 point escape and Dan took him down and on his back for at least 2 1/2 -3 seconds!!! What do you think? Anyone can respond!!!

[@onebobtwo]

this was the first match gable lost in his life. undefeated in high school. undefeated in college until this match. which was his last collegiate match. owings came down 2 weight classes his sr. season to do one thing. beat gable and he did in a great match. gable went on to win the next olympics w/o giving up a single point. practically on one leg. his knee was history.

[@McGlasshole]

I disagree. I think Gable would be at the top today - perhaps even better. I wrestled four years at the collegiate level in from 1977-81. At the time Gable was wrestling, there were 405,000 high school and collegiate wrestlers nationwide. Today, there are less than 95,000, thanks to cutbacks due to Title IX. Frankly, the competition was better in the 70's.

[@cadeschmitz120]

Michael McGlasson false

[@mikewhite9818]

Cade Schmitz He is right. Competition exceptional in the 60, 70, 80’s. Kids today are not anywhere near tough or strong enough to compete then.

[@mike5556]

I have known about this match forever but have never seen the whole thing. I have heard various versions of what happened and some questionable calls et al. This reminds me of the Tyson/Douglas fight: A challenger with nothing to lose and fearlessly standing up to an "unbeatable" opponent. Owings came to wrestle!

[@Jargonaught]

@chadman3000 i think it might be the different rules back then.

[@CruxisCryst]

I agree with Myster1ousg, stepping onto the mat is the toughest 6 minutes I've ever been in. This isn't a walk in the park. There's no one to help you once you step into the 10ft circle. It is one on one. To SPIKETHESPARTAN - yea Gable may have been a little too confident, but no one goes into a match wanting to lose. Well the old saying is you learn more from losing than from winning, Gable is still a legend of a wrestler.

[@777Skeptic]

Tried to find their rematch, but I guess Olympic trial matches aren't taped.

[@retiredtopsergeant8864]

777Skeptic The Olympic Trial matches (back then and even now) were not nationally or regionally televised, but they were recorded on video; in many cases by a private source; in other cases by the participating clubs and teams themselves. Many college coaches (in the 1960s and 70s) had their dual matches and tournaments taped, for training purposes. I'm sure that some of this footage has been discarded over the years, but I also believe that much of it still exists. It's just a matter of it finding its way to KZbin.

[@jimquantic]

@Randohm You are very correct. And I wonder if Coach Gable believes, today, that this loss--in time, made him even greater than he already was, or, if he still looks at the loss with anger. He is such a fighter, you got to wonder if he could buy into the "make me better" argument.

[@mikemilesbarnes94]

Jmichael Isbell in his book he said..." I was 181-0... lost... and then got real good."

[@jimquantic]

@@mikemilesbarnes94 sort of a way of saying "yes, the loss was good for me" BUT, I don't think he....could quite choke out THOSE words.

[@dave151550]

@derrick302 I know he lost to Les gutches whos also from Oregon like larry owings in some match its here on youtube

[@DK-ln1cp]

At a tournament with that man larry Owings right now

[@breepizzarolls420]

What was Larry Owings career record?

[@marcef100m]

@kirkthewrestler dude, wtf,? I grew up in the same town as Gabel and am a big fan and wish he could have won that matchm, but why would you call Owings "a dick" FYI everyone cuts weigiht in the US.

[@geneticman13]

lol. how come they dont have any videos of dan gable wining ?

[@DanielPaul56]

You're right, Mixer. Everyone DOES have a right to their opinion. And, I never said kjkj,etc. didn't. He does! I remember having the flu once, between meets. While I had no problem making weight, I was WAY too weak to put myself out on the mat. I "only" lost to my opponent 6-0. I cried behind the bench afterwards, because my not getting pinned was the difference between our team winning and losing. That, and I was exhausted beyond belief.

[@thesuperkid54]

i agree with greesa and josh, wrestling is a hard ass sport. i wrestle and its not easy. and its 1 on 1 so if u screw up u cant blame it on anybody else. and mintaining a specific weight and having to cut weight for tournaments, wrestlings tough. one of the hardest sports there is. AND DAN GABLE WAS/ STILL IS THE GREATEST EVER

[@Aspartan3]

@dave151550 i beleive it was the world trails. im pretty sure it was his only loss in national freestyle. As for collegiac style wrestling in the ncaa he was undefeated.

[@ChrisMyersTWOA]

I agree. Seems like Owens should have been called for stalling. One thing to consider is that this happened thirty plus years ago. The sport has been growing more and more each year. Now days the athletes have all the knowledge from our predecessors and adding more to it. I think all competitive sports are more advanced technically and strategically.

[@bigbirdgrappler60]

@boilermakerjoel i know owings won when it mattered but gable piss pounded him the other 2 times they wrestled at world and olympic team trials once before they met in college (which gave owings the motivation to beat gable) and once after which was actually the bigger of the 2 ass kickings that gable put on him

[@tubegrappler]

the match took place in 1970 at Northwestern, not in 1969 at BYU. Seeing the match again, it was quite competitive. Gable couldn't get Owings arm barred the way he did to nearly everyone, and at the one point where he had it, he couldn't turn him. Owings had Gable cradled twice, but couldn't turn him either. Looked like maybe Gable should have gotten some back points in the early going, but they were very hard to come by back then. I don't remember anyone ever thinking of Gable as cocky.

[@konscious12]

deathrisen6 i think ur talking about freestyle/greco.

[@DrumsTenorsax]

I guess this is why Larry Owings is synonyms with Dan Gable, and Dan Gable is synonyms with wrestling!

[@murkincl69]

wrestling needs much more respect/recognition~!

[@slokiller2003]

It skips. Why?

[@lawrencebittke8478]

J Hansen I saw old Jack Johnson boxing footage from the early 1900’s that didn’t skip like this.

[@oskarr9557]

That was my wrestling coach

[@RoboPimp3000]

you gotta admit that was a sweet move by Owings to win the match

[@altonza]

Greatly stated!

[@ChrisMyersTWOA]

Actually you see the ref stroking out his near fall to indicate Gable was in near fall criteria. I'm surprised you don't see Iowa's head coach making a stink of it. you can bet neither were too thrilled about. That match was meant to be. It gave Gable even more motivation (like he needed anymore since he was a traing maniac) to do something even more outstanding with his performance in the Olympics.

[@bigbirdgrappler60]

i recently read a season on the mat which is about gables last season as a coach and it said that owings out "gabled" gable meaning he made gable wrestle his style plus owings was pinning everyone that year with a cradle so thats all gable thought about and owings and gable had wrestled once before and gable kicked his ass up and down the mat which gave owings extra motivation fourtunatly for gable he got another shot at owings at a freestyle tournament and beat his ass

[@joepa267]

one thing this shows is how wrestling has changed. i know some parts of this is slowed down but still today inthe Div. I wrestling the guys are much bigger. now a days these guys look like 125 pounders when there really like 149ish? still both very technically sound

[@kjkjkjkjkjkj2008]

its true, he definitely had the best record. But you can tell a lot by how someone handles a disappointment. Case in point is Zidane in soccer. Instead of arguing and bickering, he took it right on the chin without blinking.

[@DaWu4Eva]

well... mr.gable himself said a true champion isnt the one with the no loss record, its the one with that 1 loss and all the expirienced gained from it

[@user828B]

that is a great quote

[@randolphlex714]

Its amazing gable did not break his neck on Larry's fireman carry

[@gunboy323]

scultz was pretty old in those matches. i think that played a big part in it

[@pummel_arts]

Larry Owings lost every single varsity match of his freshman year of high school. Dan Gable was a machine, and he lost to a man.

[@cpbassin]

You'd cry during one of his practices, that's for sure. You'd run out of there in a heartbeat, you dont know hardcore like Gable.

[@commiehater1655]

Does anyone else think Gable looked tired at the end of the first? And I realize that's like saying superman looked tired after a brisk jog...but he still looked tired to me. He just didn't seem like he had intensity he is famous for whenever he was down.

[@revots123]

@beastskater4 Yeah, Smith should make the list - 2 time national champ, 2 time olympic champ, 4 time world champ...I think pretty much everyone agrees that Sanderson should top any 'all time list', after 1st it gets a little harder to place guys. For me it's still Sanderson then Douglas.....

[@mike5556]

Karelin was 8 years old in 1976 and had not even started wrestling yet.

[@derrick302]

Cael Sanderson lost in like... Olympics or something right? He was only undefeated in college right?

[@kjkjkjkjkjkj2008]

..I've never been to a meet where somebody didn't start crying publicly, its sickening. When my opponents started to mope and B, I took that as disrespect b/c it implied that I'd somehow caught him on an "off night" & really it was him deserving of having his hand raised. Get up, shake hands, work harder, and come back strong. Don't cry for show like Gable was doing there -- but go to any meet, you'll always see somebody doing exactly that and its b/c they've seen somebody else do it.

[@propride]

Exactly.

[@ИсубСиндиков-щ5з]

Дэн Гейбл великолепный борец с США,феномен и аскет.......

[@jwp111]

How would he do against Shawn Michaels or Hulk Hogan? It doesn't look like they could hold him down for a 3 count.

[@randolphlex714]

I can't fathom that these new wrestlers do not do under arm spins or fireman or even bar arms old school wrestling works

[@Csfirefox]

yes

[@Sheikbaby]

True, that atheletes have evolved, but there is no way in hell any high schooler could touch Dan Gable. Don't hate on the old school. Don't forget Pistol Pete still holds the NCAA record for most points per game. That was more than 35 years ago. Allen Iverson can't fuck with that. And that was before the 3-point line was invented.

[@arj103t]

dan gable is the best wrestler ever

[@TWM2975]

You have guys like John Smith, Bruce Baumgartner, the Peterson brothers, Lee Kemp (who beat Gable, incidentally), Rick Sanders, Kenny Monday, Kevin Jackson and many others who were better American wrestlers. Then you have guys such as Bouvaisa and Adam Saitiev, Arsen Fadzaev, Alexander Karelin, Yojiro Uetake and many, many more. Gable was great for a few years, but the reality is that he is a greater coach than he ever was a competitor.

[@rickydicky5889]

Dan should've had a two point near fall @ 1:09 to 1:12. So Dan actually got screwed and this should've been a tie at the end of three.

[@bigbirdgrappler60]

@revots123 cael didnt have the career after college that smith had he cant really compare to gable either even though they have the same amount of olympic golds because cael didnt dominate like gable he wasnt even sure he wanted to wrestle going into 04

[@bobklein571]

Gable did put Owens on his back for at least two seconds in the first. And never got the two points..

[@vincentwinkleblech3614]

BOB KLEIN I had a two Count.... Gable got screwed for the two nearfall

[@yoyoyo96950]

he choked on the pressure of being the best

[@ponch_9828]

Larry is my coach

[@TristanandIsolt]

Is he still coaching?

[@konscious12]

flee call??

[@kjkjkjkjkjkj2008]

"I asked a question (that didn't get answered)..." Look, you missed the point of what I said earlier. If it makes you happy, I did wrestle in high school and division one in college, and was good at it. Your point about actually experiencing defeat in order to gain sufficient selfcontrol to not start weeping is a weak one -- Gable had at least 181 opportunities to watch others lose at his hands, and he should've known to keep his composure...

[@revots123]

I'd put Gable at third all-time, behind 1- Cael Sanderson and 2- Bobby Douglas.

[@carminemineo9782]

Total diff sport today with all the resources

[@mixer1dotgeo]

Maybe DanielPaul56 asked about your record to see if you have ever wrestled at all. There is such a huge adrenaline dump when a match is over that you have little control of your emotions. I remember crying after WINNING matches in high school. However; everyone does in fact have a right to their opionion!

[@luchador1764]

would gable still kick ass if he wrestled today?

[@TristanandIsolt]

YES!!!

[@Cabinator]

Gable was injured and was basically wreslting with one arm.

[@gleetron]

9:36 i'd be pretty upset too