A Wrestling Life

The Inspiring Stories of Dan Gable

By: Dan Gable, Scott Schulte

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

What does it take to be an Olympic gold medalist and to coach a collegiate team to 15 NCAA titles? In A Wrestling Life: The Inspiring Stories of Dan Gable, famed wrestler and wrestling coach Dan Gable tells engaging and inspiring stories of his childhood in Waterloo, Iowa; overcoming the murder of his sister as a teenager; his sports career from swimming as a young boy, to his earliest wrestling matches, through the 1972 Olympics; coaching at the University of Iowa from the Banachs to the Brands; life-changing friendships he made along the way; and tales of his family life off the mat. A celebration of determination, teamwork, and the persevering human spirit, A Wrestling Life captures Gable's methods and philosophies for reaching individual greatness as well as the incredible amount of fulfillment and satisfaction that comes from working as part of a team.

©2015 the University of Iowa Press (P)2015 Tantor

Critic reviews

"No one is a better motivator than Gable and that is a huge part of the success of Iowa wrestling." (Lou Banach, 1984 Olympic gold medalist)

Dan Gable: An Everyman Hero

I liked the folksy narration by Joe Garrett who spoke in as close as you can get to small-town Iowa voice.

Dan Gable had a modest upbringing who started practicing for wrestling at an early age, middle school, and was beset by a tragedy, his sister being murdered when he was in high school. He was especially intense as he started practicing much harder on his wrestling skills to keep his parents together. That was a success as he was virtually undefeated in high school and college at Iowa State and the family stayed together following his wrestling matches. They followed him to the 1972 Munich Olympics where he won a gold but the Games were quickly overshadowed by the slaughter of the Israeli athletes.

Regardless of where he was at in life; the 72 Olympics, coaching at Iowa, he kept track or at least tried to of everyone in the program. He took the meaning of coaching seriously so his wrestlers can contact him anytime on life issues. Also, he seemed to be the antithesis of Bob Knight in coaching.

mindset of a champion

Gables mindset seperated him from everyone else. very intriguing insight in to gables perspective. I would recommend this book and thoroughly enjoyed it

Great book

Dan Gabel is a legend for a reason. Awesome to hear some of his stories and accomplishments

Freaking awesome!

If you're a fan of wrestling or have ever wrestled yourself you absolutely need to get this book The stories that Gable tells are worth their weight in gold this is an absolute must read.

A true gem for life lessons

This is a book is a series of lessons from sports icon Dan Gable, but they can be applied to all parts of life, business, etc. To be the best, learn from the best.

Outstanding book for any athlete student or worker

First of all I am a big wrestling fan and athletes. What I found most impressive with this book is that it helps an individual look at life and the things that are most important to us as we work to achieve our goals.

Insightful

I enjoyed learning about the perspective from such a strong minded athlete. His failures and vulnerabilities only heightened his resolve to push forward.

Legend

Absolutely great. If you are a wrestler you need this. Love both the stories and history.

Fun insightful tales.

I heard a variation of some of these stories while at a wrestling coaches clinic in 2001. It a nice listen.

Enjoyable Read

Great read, great inspiration, and great life lessons. Thank you Coach Gable! One of my favorite wrestling experiences growing up was attending your Iowa style 2-week intensive training camp in the summer of 1994. I was exposed to the meaning of hard work and enjoyed almost every minute of it.