[July 06, 2011] Wrestling honors its greatest champion in Gable Tweet Jun 05, 2011 (Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- IOWA CITY, Iowa -- His reach in the sport of wrestling is far and wide. That fact is indisputable about Iowa icon Dan Gable. Nonetheless, his impact on the sport of wrestling was impressively on display Saturday at the Coralville Mariott for "Gable's Gold: A Celebration of Dan Gable's Legacy." A sellout crowd of nearly 1,000 mingled with some of the biggest names in wrestling from the past, present and future, all of whom have been impacted by Gable in one way or another. "We came here with different perspectives tonight ... we are all here to honor him for different reasons," said Minnesota head coach J Robinson, who served as Gable's head assistant for 12 years. "That is the beauty, I think, of what is happening tonight ... there are some here to honor him as a coach, some as a leader, as a competitor, as a role model and as a friend." A who's who of wrestling was in attendance Saturday, including Gable's high school coach, Bob Siddens, and former teammate and Olympic champion Ben Peterson, who was one of six individuals chosen to speak on behalf of Gable. It was a night to celebrate the man who went from a three-time state champion for Waterloo West to an Iowa State legend, Olympic champion and the man many believe to be the greatest wrestling coach in history. It was the 21 years as Iowa's head coach, where he compiled a 355-21-5 record that included 15 national titles, 21 Big Ten team titles, 152 all-Americans, 106 Big Ten champions, 45 national champions and 10 Olympians that was brilliantly highlighted by Peterson, Robinson, four-time Iowa all-American Mike DeAnna, Bump Elliott, Terry Brands and Tom Brands. "There are better people in this world because of Dan Gable, and I'm one of them," said Tom Brands, the current Iowa head coach. Robinson, given an audience of 1,000 Hawkeyes, spoke for 24 minutes, 14 more than his allotted time. "When I was asked to speak, I said, 'Let me get this straight. I'm going to get to talk to 1,000 Hawkeyes that are not going to be allowed to boo me ... Tom and Terry Brands aren't going to be able to yell and point at me, and they have to sit there for 10 minutes ... I sai, 'I'm in,'" Robinson quipped during his speech. To wrap up the evening, Iowa athletic director Gary Barta announced that the University of Iowa will display a life-sized bronze statue of Gable outside the main entrance of Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The seven-foot statue is being sculpted by Larry Nowlan, the same artist commissioned by the U of I to create the Nile Kinnick statue outside of Kinnick Stadium. "Coach Gable stands in a class of his own in terms of contributions he's made to the University of Iowa and the sport of wrestling," Barta said. "He produced the sport's greatest wrestling environment inside Carver-Hawkeye, and we believe this statue is a fitting and well-deserved tribute that honors his legacy." Brands wrapped up the evening succintly. "Gable defined parity by not acknowledging it." To see more of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.wcfcourier.com/. Copyright (c) 2011, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]