Larry Owings is a wrestling legend. ", Owings and Gable, forever linked, met in the NCAA final for the 142-pound weight class. Olympic Champion. Wrestling was already fading in his life when he met Diane, the woman who would become his second wife. That's what I thought. "If he had never tried that before, then that tells me it's desperate. Gable never lost before he faced Owings in that match, nor after it. We went at it tooth and nail.". The teasing was merciless and nearly crushed him, but it also fueled him to drop the weight and spend extra hours in the gym, and by his senior year he was the best wrestler in the state, competing in national tournaments and Olympic trials. "Stunned was the word," Owings said of his first moments as the giant-killer. Every once in a while now Owings will still go to the mat. Gable didnt feel redemption or justice, only a heavy weight lifted: in an unexpected moment of clarity, he realized that all these years hes somehow been partly blaming himself for her death. Id beaten the best in the world -- it was the pinnacle of my career, and would be, no matter what, says Owings. After college, Owings competed on the senior level circuit before retiring. He had a chance to face Owings again three weeks later, then again seven months later, but Owings lost in the preliminary round. 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. Our Mission: To honor the sport of wrestling by preserving its history, recognizing extraordinary individual achievements, and inspiring future generations, 405 West Hall of Fame Avenue Then, just an hour before the match, ABC-TV convinced him to do a short promo advancing the telecast, which would be shown a week later, by having him tell the viewer to watch him finish his career 182-0. Desperation is something that brings out unusual things," Gable said. I was almost embarrassed to have won, he says. Larry took the match to him.". "It was bedlam. "[5], From 1967 to 1970, Gable attended Iowa State University, where he competed in folkstyle wrestling. It was close throughout the three-period match, and the constant crowd noise was deafening. I told him I used to wrestle in North Dakota, won a state championship in 1987. In this conversation, we talk about Owings' childhood, high school career, and the match with Gable. 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. The OFFICIAL Facebook site of Western Australia's premiere Pro Wrestling organisation - EPW Perth. And that was before he won gold at the 1972 Munich Olympics. It has to be in the top five here. Just a thought. Not only did Owings show incredible confidence in the style he wrestled Gable, he was shrewd in moving down a weight class and avoiding the one wrestler who beat him that season: Mike Grant of Oklahoma. See, Larry Owings is the The Man Who Beat Dan Gable. While the result of the match against Owings was unusual, in comparison with Gable's previous results, his effort is undeniable. It's hard to win a third NCAA title. Just sitting here, talking about it it hurts. Dan Gable has not forgotten about that night in 1970. Minn. Owings was wrestling best at 136.5 . % He describes Owings as a "Charles Lindbergh persona, quietly confident," who believed he could equal Gable's strength and conditioning. 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. He was U.S. Olympic freestyle coach in 1980, 1984, and 2000. Well, thats not me, he says, as he reads about the retirement of Larry Owings of Brownwood, Texas. He's still the most famous person in the world of wrestling. I didn't know he passed away in 2013, but that explains the omission of Joseph/Martinez. I told him he had to get out there." CACCAMO Rita. He just smiled and congratulated me, never once mentioning he was an NCAA national champion! "It was a move," Owings said, "I had never done before or since.". He holed himself up in his room, he didnt talk to anyone, he didnt even return his parents phone calls. 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. After beating up on them, he thought to himself, OK, Im still good. He would mow the lawn of his parents home in Waterloo, on a 100-degree Iowa summer day with double layers of jogging pants to burn calories. National Wrestling Hall of Fame. After graduating, Gable undertook an intensive training program and won the 1971 world and Pan-American championships. But Owings honestly believed he could beat him. He Googles his name on the iPad. "People are still talking about it," said Ron Good, editor of the Amateur Wrestling News. Referee Pascal Perri described the noise as "comparable to Niagara Falls during the spring thaw.". I know that the match affected my entire life. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan smiled after being presented with a prayer book during a visit to Cardinal Hickey Academy on February 26, 2016 in. Feeling more comfortable in the match, Gable started to go for a pinning combination, but Owings defense held him off. But in the final 30 seconds of a close, intense, exhausting match, Owings slipped underneath Gable's arms for a leg lift or sweep, putting the erstwhile invincible Gable on his back for the winning points. I don't know if he planned it or not, but he got inside my head.". Earlier in the day, without any prodding, he brought up the murder of his sister Diane in 1964. I enjoyed your article and with no intention of being critical. No, with his movie star looks and charisma, and a physique that would make Chris Hemsworth jealous, he was legitimately world famous. But Gable made a gritty comeback, as his fans expected him to, late in the match. After beating up on them, he thought to himself, OK, I'm still good. What are you doing? Before the match, Gable had recorded a promo for ABC saying, Hi, Im Dan Gable. "I thought it would be a contest. He lost 20 pounds, while simultaneously growing several inches, and all of a sudden no one was saying hed never be a wrestler anymore. I got bumped down a seed at Nationals in 72 because the winner of the regionals 1 weight above me dropped down for Nationals. Grant won in '69 @ 145 and again in '70 @ 150. 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. It was quite the pedigree, but no one expected the same from Larry, for one simple reason. SI digs into the lives of the competitors of one of the most famous wrestling matches of all time. "I was almost embarrassed to have won," he says. A sophomore had beaten the giant. Larry Owings Documentary: https://youtu.be/AHuD161zOBU Full match vs Dan Gable: https://youtu.be/98HYl3c0L1c Any can be beaten, nothing is impossible! "I could talk after that," he says. Gable grew up in Waterloo, Iowa. Owings watches the video as Perri lifts his arm and Gable staggers away. Larry was tough. Gable calls his loss to Larry Owings of Washington his greatest loss. If there was one code Owings lived by then, it was a desire to have a second chance against anyone who had beaten him. In the days afterward he shut himself from the world. 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. The next match featured Grant, like Gable a defending Champion from 1969. Feeling stripped of his powers after his loss, Gable was finding out what it was like to be human. In his international career, undefeated. I have to agree with the other poster - Vincenzo Joseph over Imar has to be in the top 3. He could't believe he was the one affected by his opponent's reputation. \DP,uaO@LtT H]v[?Nr)|cXB!>Br$<4y3gz 1oZu, FO]+#3* u_i!c+pIf'iwC+)p\G After returning to Ames the next day, the first thing he did was ask teammates to wrestle him. Iowa State had won the national team championship, but Gable's loss dominated the headlines. I remember asking him what he did in Colorado. 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. Don't get caught in the cradle." 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. Email: info@nwhof.org, 303 Jefferson St. 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. Caldwell was always dangerous and capable of beating anyone anytime. %PDF-1.4 The line Gable had to recite was simple: Hi, Im Dan Gable. He coached 152 All-Americans, 45 national champions, 106 Big Ten champions, and 12 Olympians, including eight medalists. The match changed my life, he says, but then he suddenly adds, but there was a time, a long time, when I wished it never happened.. Larry Owings Fall 6:12 Leandro Torres 4-3 Bruce Burnett 11-7 Paul Brodmerkel 6-2 Bob Bergen 15-6 Rob Brown 6-4 Larry Owings Fall 1:36 Leandro Torres 4-3 Bob Bergen 3-2 Larry Owings 17-2 Leandro Torres 4-1 Darrell Keller 16-12 142 Weight Class Larry Owings 5-2 Clay Jester, Massachusetts James Guizzotti, Ashland [7] Doug Moses, Iowa State Bye He also has a museum named for him in his hometown of Waterloo, Iowa, part of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum. Dan Gable won 181 consecutive matches during high school and college before losing his final match at Iowa State. Graduated from Canby High School where he was a two-time OSAA champion. During the award ceremonies, his real feelings came out. Graduated from Canby High School where he was a two-time OSAA champion. Facebook gives people the power to. Leading 7-2, Owings continued to ride Gable before Gable notched a reversal and put himself back on track with a 7-4 score. Michael Jordan is the Dan Gable of basketball, a sportswriter once said. He played college basketball for Yavapai College and Oral Roberts University . Does all that happens without the loss to Owings? You can find youth folkstyle wrestling tournaments as well as Freestyle and Greco-Roman events. 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. Larry Owings - Washington (1969 - 1972) 1-time NCAA Champion High School: Canby, Oregon Only one man who ever lived can say he beat Dan Gable, and that man is 1968 Canby Union High School grad Larry Owings. "I was a scrambling type of wrestler, and I think he was more of a controlled wrestler," Owings told the Associated Press 17 years after his win in an article headlined "Gable's rival, former bosses look back. We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. Larry Owings Invitational - Wrestling Event - FloWrestling Larry Owings Invitational Larry Owings Invitational on Dec 21, 2013 in Canby, OR. Owings will forever be in the history books because of this match, and the lesson from this moment is that anything can happen in the NCAA finals. From 1967 to 1970, Gable attended Iowa State University, where he competed in folkstyle wrestling. His senior year, he earned a spot on Wrestling USA magazine's 1967-68 High School All-American team. This site also has Jiu Jitsu, Beach and Belt tournaments listed. For the first time in history, the two living [] Call 1-800-GAMBLER. Washington's Larry Owings knocked off Iowa State's Dan Gable for the 1970 NCAA championship at 142 pounds. He respected his pinning ability.". That wouldn't happen in 1970. Now hes fighting for it to be reinstated beyond 2020. Larry Owings, Coach/Official, Canby, Oregon. As did one summer before high school, where he went to work for a Norwegian dairy farmer who had him hauling hay bales from dawn to dusk. Two years ago, Gable got the call that Dianes killer had died in prison. The man who beat Dan Gable.. Gable asked Jean as he stood there under the water. Owings grew up in the Ninety-One School district, the youngest of five brothers who were all high school wrestling state champions. 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. "GABLE FALLS!" screamed the banner headline in the next day's Des Moines Register. It's all good. In "Larry Owings Documentary (The Man Who Beat Dan Gable," filmmaker Kaden Christiansen shares the story of Washington Athletics' Larry Owings, who is famously known for his upset of undefeated two-time NCAA champion Dan Gable of Iowa State Wrestling in the 1970 NCAA Wrestling finals. 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. 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