The Champion, 1971

at Iowa State has ever captured the imagination the way this young man has under high school and collegiate rules he's never been defeated that string of wins now stands at 169 he has won so many tournament titles and so many honors as outstanding wrestler at the NC double-a tournament as the man with the most pins in the least time that the count is lost at this time I think it would be fitting to recognize his parents and ask them to come little remembrance Sivan appreciations and the student body would like to present you with an Iowa blanket there's a place underneath the eye where we'd like to place the undefeated national champion at the end of the year we have made room to add the 1970 NCAA champion the Big Eight champion outstanding wrestler at the NC double-a tournament the gregorian trophy an athlete of the year and all you have to do then is to come through for us congratulations Dan I really not thought of his West Valley dressing Gorge people think of me actually is Dan Gables coach I guess my first contact with him was that up in the tenth grade and he was a little guy a real little fella that not too muscular very think of times when he would sit in the restroom and we may have some teams that had come in and when I worked out with us and they wanted word and evil a bright point over to there maybe the corner some places will red-headed I'd be sitting and they were place supplies they couldn't believe it he was a kind of a skinny little doll from a tenth grader right on up to the senior in the wrestling room he just didn't like to get me was a very irritating form to get beat Darren wasn't real nifty on his feet and starting out I think he had in mind though that he wanted to be that state champ in the first year and he just worked real hard his dad when his mother were always backed up him and I think they were a probably more than Danny did I remember this happening out in the Nationals at Provo I guess maybe I won't ever forget it dan came out with these team members and I gave him a tap on the behind and I just told him that I want him to win he knew that already he looked up at me and he said mr. szidon he said I'm gonna win he said if I don't do my best I won't win and he says I'm gonna do my best so I'm gonna be a national champion as freshmen dan asked law the question he came to vote mr. Anderson and myself what can I do to do this better until the sophomore he still wanted answers to questions he was a captain he's picked because he does leader and he's a leader from the start and right on through I always felt good leader was a good example and he has been a great example he had a winning student going it was something to look up to as far as old team was concerned and just the feeling of yes being a winner and wanting to be a winner made them want to be more so he had a number injuries but he's put up with him kept working mom well I don't believe there was anybody in the country that was capable of beating him I don't think even grant my opinion he has had a greater influence on amateur wrestling in the last two or three years and any one person has had the last 25 I don't really get too scared until up to three hours for the match then I start going a little bit but I think everybody gets together for me that they don't must get awful cocky or something you must be awful sure themselves there's the action the matches go and the people in the crowd yelling well there's a big crowd there and sort of sykes me up a lot more than just a fill of the big top I thought oh see this I'm just thinking about the match I'm just thinking about laughs oh and think about how you're pulling through my mind like a tape recorder fireman's carry single double ankle pick let's hold it is going from their mind now you just want to throw one after another when I wrestle I want everything to be instinctively and not thinking about it five star think about a move what's coming next there's I'm not I haven't practiced enough because I can't fit under the background in that it also nyira raising the crowd and the people some movers and a guy getting pinned or I guys pinning the guy I gotta take down them to pull it but as they crowd riders and cheers are they I start just moving that much more than warming up you know it's not really getting ready for a matches and then when they get excited I get I just try to reach my peak right before every magic time to describe something inside just wanted to come out when you get out there up to a peak you go out there and you let that let it run out here like just energy I get you want to go all the time wherever I do me wherever I go I probably involved some ways of biology that's one of my goals you know coaching teach not only just to be a good coaches a good teacher but really excel in the field look at it for us I'm gonna do what I really want to do it the best I think coach especially a coach has to know how your body operates how your muscles work hi the different systems your body function and through biology that's where I really learned a lot about how to keep myself in shape and how to Train I think it's a lot of similar between what I like to do my own personal life I've hunted in fishing and biology you know there's a lot of things in biology is dealing with outdoors you know why animals and wildlife things like that the twenty was six years old I started rolling on the why I'm teaching iris woman so forth and he was a good swimmer but he decided he won this wrestling and I just kind of pushed him a little bit and encouraged him but you didn't have to do too much of that because he was pretty well much of a self driver I definitely think winning builds up to want the desire to win this question was asked my coach last year why do you think Dan wins and over the next guy you know why does he win so many matches his answer was his desire he said I have a tremendous desire to win and I really never thought about it that much before he said that but actually it's true I want to win really bad and I know I speak that I know I'm better in granite appeasement or something wrong but you never know if you lose I lost and a lot of people upset by forming a line cuz I if I got the fair and square personally myself I wouldn't knock me down might a my mom she'd be shuck my dad if you show I was glad we had like a favor when actually real proud of him his record speaks for itself I think that he actually thinks in his own mind that he couldn't always get in better condition but I don't think he can I don't know how he could that works out all the time and there's not much of any way that it could get in better condition he's dedicated it's willing to pay the price we're not small but I used to compete against myself all the time yeah I used to love baseball and I used to stand out in the front yard and swing a baseball bat for hours and hours and hours and play whole games it sort of talked to myself I'll think about who's but I'm too bad I'm Mickey Mouse now or something you know I used to wear actual spot on my grass just completely dirt why I used to stand and swing in this one spot I used other thing to also like I said I like to fishing a lot same thing I used to just go up fishing side yard for hours you catch trainers for I don't know why I don't know why but I just always loved the sort of dream after that my grant I had confidence in damn course but I was feel scared because he was so close to finishing out his college wrestling career at Mendte why take a chair when he wouldn't have the red one you know he'd hate to seem get that lost in there I'm not tall as well yeah I know I know how to you have so you look sighs you've been excited ever since I started last night she was all scared you know everybody pretty well and you can just tell when she's pretty scared I could see her see it nice I guess it sort of made me not want to ask them as much cuz she always says yeah you don't hustle Brent you know they get stuff like that I've never you know that's a really bad way that I'd keep saying that or something like that you know I had all the food she didn't know whether I was done or not my dad you know he doesn't put no pressure on me I mean he's just want me to rock hard as I can wants me to see me win but if I lose I'll take it be right there beside me even though I lose I wouldn't see any reason why two days we'll champions who dress to each other and runs up await home runs down along there was a useless mess because when I'm head blues and I thought all the time maybe it might be my kid and I liked my grant because he's a good kid even though he is an Okie and I wouldn't want to see him get beat but if somebody's gonna get beat at sooner see grant and then so I was just nervous there's a real nervous I didn't like it I didn't want any part of it and I told Anna several times don't do it Dania said to let me worry about a story about penis stage habit came true always trade about baton ask to have a class where they gave Joe the chains about being the win Olympics and I hope that comes true you can just see yourself once those other foreign countries and you're staying on the number one place well well the other country stepping up there can't see myself in the second third or fourth place cuz I've seen put them into one spot that's why I hope I won all right there's not the key beat striving for that goal working book now feet above everybody else with this dressing room that we've dealt has worked out real well it's worked out real well for my son has resulted in working with oh we have a lot of boys out there working out East High School here in Waterloo from West High School Cedar Falls uni and Iowa State University of Iowa Purdue when you get a boy like dan gate will show him these kids he can show them so much more actually out in the mat and then the hours and hours on the mat here on repetition repetition is what makes for a good wrestler young boy that's interested in Alaska Danny likes to bring him off boy has an opportunity ever to beat his record even if Dan is his coach well dad will make sure that he has the opportunity to do it I missed the type of coach today I will be someday I just hope that my son can wrestle point separate the men from the boys he'll either have 11 real tough boys out there you won't have any it'll be a lot to beaver out the way it'll go the thing that the gold medal and I don't be disappointed I hope it's somewhere 35 Sam I have a good really good chance when I say our team has another chance to win it and I think we can bring home the championship what we did last year I want to try to pin every opponent I do what i hope i can do i should bring back something building up down here this is the moment a try that and so I let myself go after harder because that's the main the main meat of all here's an apple turn you got a little miss one you gotta do anything oh that's one final match against Larry only from the University of Washington he wrestled all your mostly in 1557 and then he cut down 42 for national he didn't win his childhood back to type in 67% of them he lost one beat during the year that was to Mike grant for Oklahoma score seven to five having been made we planned on it all year long we buy things for crazy but I think he has a real good chance people has to be favored that's kind of a boy yes he wants to he wants to go against the best and Gable perhaps might be the best of all time and that's who he wants to be there's so much alike I just really can't believe it they're both great dinners to marry Canada Laura Japan everybody at his own weight this year I've only been at 58 and at 67 wasn't easy wasn't easy to take this defeat but but I gotta learn I gotta live with its life and I'm not gonna let this stop me one bit my one goal was here was to win the National that goal wasn't reached that was a big block of my life when I got overlooked it it was really hard for me to walk out there after I lost in front of all those people but when I stood there and they really cheered and everything and sort of lifted my them around I could look up and and take the defeatist I'm glad I could take it I got to overlook this I got worked that much harder kind of set my goals higher and I I got my goal as Norfolk's I got probably have to put out much more than I already have be pretty hard there's a block before I get there I'm just gonna have to step over it just keep working cuz I'll I'll do one win the next Olympics I hope to all you kids out there I'll just set your mind forth some goal and reach out and work your way for that goal because I think every person has to have a goal in life and let's try to conquer this goal there's gonna be a lot of stepping stones blocked it's got overcome these I'm gonna try to overcome mine I know I'm going to overcome mine I'm gonna go on thank you very much