Dan Gable vs. Larry Owings: FULL 1970 NCAA title match at 142 pounds 

Technically speaking, it looks more like a really good high school match than a D-1 national final. Interesting to see how wrestling has evolved so much over the past 50+ years.

There's nothing like wrestling, especially in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. The smell of the mats, the dimming of the auxillary gym or gym, the comradery, nostalgia, etc. It just has a sense of feeling that nothing else can give.

After this loss, his only one ever, Dan Gable rededicated himself to training like no other wrestler ever had before or since. He worked out 7 hours per day, pushing himself every minute, it was obsessive behavior that we'll probably never see again.

The evolution of talent from then until now is absolutely astounding

Few notes here. This version has had the frame rate corrected, as you'll see other versions of this same video moving in 24 frames per second which really slows the action down. The sport of wrestling has dramatically improved since this time, but these guys were still the best, and if given the chance to teleport to today, they just might be the best in today's time. The best are the ones that find a way to win, despite what adversity is thrown their way. Today, wrestlers at the NCAA D1 level are much bigger, faster wrestle with much more fluidity and are far superior technically to Owings and Gable. There are very few mistakes at the elite level now. There are lots of sloppy mistakes in this match. However, the biggest difference is the weight cutting. These guys are very sucked down. Owings' legs are gone a minute into the match. He's exhausted, even though he still is in great shape and can do short bursts, his body is drained. Severe weight cutting, while still around, is not nearly what it used to be. When I left the sport as a junior college freshman, the old system was still in play (but on the way out). When I came back to wrestle ten years later as a college sophomore, I was the lone dinosaur wearing the plastic suit sucking weight the old fashioned way. Since athletes are no longer "sucking" SO much weight, the matches are faster and the athletes are, too. They can push longer, harder and maintain a higher level of technique over that seven minutes. Nowadays, wrestlers scramble a lot more and as a result, stalemates happen a lot more than they did in the previous several decades. It was Ben Askren that really ushered in this change of scrambling, despite many believing it to be 70s wrestler Wade Schalles. Ben's style faced loads of criticism from the old guard of Gable's (and subsequent) eras during the 00s when he was competing. Nobody had ever seen Ben Askren's "funky" style used so effectively before, and it profoundly effected the sport to this day. The first through wall always bloodies their fists, as they say. Eventually, people realized they needed to change they way they approached wrestling, and now Ben Askren's "funky" style has evolved and morphed into a highly technical, highly efficient mode of exciting mat wrestling. What Ben did for collegiate wrestling is akin to what Wilt Chamberlain did for basketball. The entire game changed. Gone are the days of universally successful "spark plug" framed, short and stocky wrestlers like Owings and Gable. Wrestlers at the very peak of collegiate wrestling are almost always the same build: taller (but not absurdly so), lean, longer arms and legs for scrambling and binding up the opponent on the ground. The frame used to be 5'3-5'7 and stocky. Now, it's 5'6-5'10 and lean. That "under arm spin" scored a lot of points for me in high school and got me pinned in college the only times I ever tried it. Lol. This match is fantastic and brilliantly preserved here.

My grandpa coached Larry owings and I got to meet him but I didn’t even know who he was 😭

If I were Owings coach that would be the greatest achievement of my life. Having a wrestler beat dan gable

He was going off instinct rather then thinking too much which won him the match along with belief and determination.

Incredible how far wrestling has come

Great match. Both guys are warriors. Couldn’t imagine the feeling Larry ownings felt this day.

People who say wrestling has evolved a lot in the past 40 years. Other than the low single and leg pass. Don’t know what they’re talking about. These guys are literally doing the same positions we do today. Not just that but the refs don’t stop positions as much allowing for more high pace and aggressive wrestling. Wrestling is the oldest sport of all time. Not too much that can change at this point.

50 years ago..

Jesus this is the one gable match I decided to watch...its like when silva lost for the 1st time.

The difference in this match came down to Dan Gable making the HUGE mistake of choosing the top position. He had lost the 1st period, Owings had a little confidence, then allowing the escape boosted that confidence and Owings hit a shot that completely caught Gable off guard. I believe had Gable chosen the neutral position this match could have went much differently.

They had contacts in the 70’s?! The more ya know! Haha

It’s amazing how far wrestling has come technically

Dan Gable goes on JRE............ 51 year old Dan Gable match trends on RU-vid

In my youth my father, from the Hawkeye state, told me of how Dan Gable trained. Dad’s dad had been a wrestler, though in college.. Decades later my father, my stepbrother and I watched Coach Gable in action on the sidelines against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. It was great to see a legend even at a distance!! Though it has probably sold, Time Bomb vintage shop in Minneapolis had an old grey sweatshirt autographed by Dan Gable. I almost bought it, but left it for someone else... Thanks for putting on this 1970 film!!

Came back to watch this video so that the Spencer lee lost doesn’t hurt so bad😭

larry owings has a special spot in my heart, coached me during my high school years in woodburn oregon, a great coach and an even better person.

A lotta ppl will be here from JRE. Figured I’d start the here from joe comments

world class match and amazing performance from both of them. This goes to show anyone can be beat. legendary bout 🤘🏼

One of my fave wrestling matches to ever see! Larry Owings totally deserves the win and we should celebrate him for doing his best yo fight the best!

I was 13 and remembered watching this on TV. An amazing run

Larry Owings was my woodshop teacher at Oregon City High School. There's a book written about him too.

Gable went on to the '72 Olympics and no one scored a point on him. He was the greatest wrestler the U.S. ever produced.

“Why is Dan gable going off the mat he is normally a very offensive wrestler” idk why I found that funny.

Great wrestling history. Thanks for posting!

Miss the humility athletes had before ESPN.

Could not have happened to a nicer guy. Goes to show we all have that in us, that moment of glory when everything comes together. Focus, belief, rising to the occasion, being in the zone.

What an awesome match! So legendary

That was a GREAT, GREAT video, especially at the end where it showed the win, in slow motion!

Gable the legend! Hats off to Owings! He muscled Gable down at the end with that single leg , impressive!

Ty for the upload!

Instead of his normal pre-match warm-up routine, Gable was filming a commercial for the Wide World of Sports TV show. By the time they finished, Gable was next up and only had a few minutes to warm up. He said that threw him off for the entire match .

JRE brought me here

I am impressed that gable got out of several cradles. I lost a championship intramural match in college to a cradle. Both these guys are long legged and lanky

3 seconds left Owings is ahead he takes a shot. Gable crawls off again

This might be my all time favorite match, the only other matches that have come close to it is Mcilravy vs Abas, Dake vs Taylor, and Banach vs Schultz. But those matches don’t come close not by a long shot

Wow what a match. I'm shocked that Owens got 2 back points in the 3rd period, it's hard to see if it was legit or not from the camera angle. I had to rewatch a few times to understand how it quickly went from 9-8 to 13-8... takedown and 2 back points. Historical match here and very defining for both men in how it shaped the rest of their lives.

Owen's had nothing to loose. Gable had everything to loose. That's why Owens won. Wish we had youtube when I wrestled. You new guys are so lucky👊🏾

here after spencer lee lost. can't help but think his senior level career will be similar to gable's considering the similarity of their stories

I don't care that this video is old. That is some great wrestling. On this day Owens had just a little more heart and tenacity. I had to final score 12 to 9 in favor of Owens. (Owen 9, Gable 8. Then an escape for Owens 10 to 8. Then a take down 12 to 8. Finally gable escapes and 12 to 9).

only 12k views?! shame

Reminds me of when Johnny Hendricks lost the national title to the same dude he beat in the finals the year prior. That was his only loss his senior year

This was awesome! I'm not even a wrestling fanatic but I know Dan Gable.

Awesome job thanks

Owings really got all of the value out of that whizzer.

The largest upset ever. Larry should have a movie about this. Underdogs everywhere should learn about this.

Sgt. Rock, I remember that photo!

This was bigger than just wrestling. Here are four 2other losses for the undefeated in the last match. 5. 2005 USC Trojan football: With 34 straight victories over three years, USC was trying to become the first team to win three consecutive National Championships. With five minutes to go, a 38-26 is not enough as they lose to Texas 41-38. 4. 2007 New England Patriots: In the only sport where going a whole season undefeated is even possible, though rare (once in eighty years), New England was dominant entering the Super Bowl. They led 14-10 with just 42 seconds to go, but lost to the NY Giants 17-14. 3. 1972 USA Olympic Men's Basketball team: In the Olympics, they had never lost a game while winning every gold medal game(7), and 63 consecutive games over 36 years. In a controversial game, with the last three seconds played THREE times, the USSR scored as time expired to win 51-50. 2. 1985 Larry Holmes: In his boxing career, Holmes had won 48 straight fights, including 20 title defenses, while never tasting defeat. He was one win shy of tying the mythical record of 49-0 set by Rocky Marciano. In his 49th fight against the smaller Micheal Spinks, Holmes would let true immortality slip away by losing a unanimous decision. Now back to wrestling, 1. 2000 Aleksandr Karelin: Considered by many, the greatest Greco-Roman wrestler of all time, Karelin was entering his last match of his career, obviously for the gold in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Not only was he undefeated in Olympic competition, or he had never lost a match internationally, he was unsecured upon for the last six years! There's a rumor he lost one match inside of Russia. This final victory slipped from his grasp and he was defeated in overtime 1-0 by Rulon Gardner from USA. Just a little smattering of sports history. Your Welcome!

I remember watching this on TV. It was such a special event at the time.

a tough match. Owings went down like two weight classes to go against Gable.

Gable said he did something he never does. He read a news clipping that quoted Owings saying he was going to beat Gable in the match. His teammates said it would inspire him. It worked just the opposite. Owings only shining moment, and finished his college career 87-4.

Love that first takedown “running the pipe”

Great match!

And Dan Gable is this LEGENDARY ATHLETE and he looks like me in college...

Austin DeSanto wrestles like Larry and reminds me of him

It’s interesting that Gable chose top to start the 2nd period. Was this typical at that time? You never see guys choosing top nowadays.

I wish the links to the two other files had not come up late during the explanation of the decisive takedown and predicament/near fall.

Larry Owings is the living legend the goats all time

now this was action wrestling

the comments saying gable isnt good from their computer do not impress anyone. Gable won the olympics and that transcends time. Modern day bias goes too far. No doubt in my mind gable would of won at least 1 title in modern day and a contender for any weight in freestyle.

Dude went ultra instinct

His first loss. He was looking for the cradle, thinking too much. That's the thing about wrestling. It's very mentally challenging. We can't wrestle properly if we think about it, at least that's how it is for me. I always have to have a blank mind. Always.

Gable fleeing the mat and manufacturing breaks in the match makes me lose some of the admiration for his style but all do respect the record speaks for itself.

Never Stop Wrestling.......

Awesome 👏🏿 match!

It sad that if you only knew gable from youtube videos you would think he was 0-1 in his wrestling career.

Looks like Iowa vs Iowa state!

Dang this was a tough match

i can remember watching big daddy and giant haystack in the 70s

Did he talk about this fight on JRE button?

Thanks joe

Matt Ramos is the old Larry Owings

I was there iit qas wild

Idk if it was the microphones or the way people talked back then but everyone sounds the exact same

My Uncle was in Chicago for it....said the place was so quiet afterwards that you could actually hear the 150 pounders shoes squeaking on the mat.

Wild how this was peak college wrestling at a time

Is there a full broadcast from this tournament?

I’m too young but does anyone know what their records were going into the finals?

His coaches said they were glad Owings got 3rd seed since they knew he wouldn't beat Gable in the semis. They knew it had to be on the center mat under the lights.

I did some wrestling in the late 90s and the training alone is killer. Much respect. Probably the toughest training that's not boxing or mma. Alot of running, alot of calisthenics.

We Are!!!

Who is here after Rogan lol

Gable did not think 2 more points for back exposure on that last takedown. It was close. At least I think that is the only think that Gable was confused about.

Goat

man what a sloppy match. But both guys were trying for a pin and not just control, so you get a lot of situations where one is vulnerable to counters

These guys went balls to the walls for 9 minutes straight and that takes great cardio

I had it 12-12 but what do I know that point was bullshit in a title match

Owing’s seemed to be the stronger that day

I wonder how well prime dan gable would do if he learned catch wrestling. with submissions

A lot of lives were lost due to bets on this match.

I have wanted to watch this match for a long time and finally did. I got confused with the scoring at the end of the match. Could someone explain what I missed? 8-8 Owings escapes, Owings leads 9-8. Owings td and now leads 11-8, Gable escapes making it 11-9 add 2 for riding time and it should have been 11-11. What did I miss & it looked like Gable also thought it should have been 11-9.

Didn't know dan gable competed at 142 I thought he was something higher like around 170

This just happened to Spencer Lee.

Crazy to see how wrestling has changed, it's different now maybe slightly more technical. At the same time they were savages.

Hahaha 2 things the leggings & they actually wrestled in those days instead of stalling most of the match like they do today! I’m old enough to remember both.

Would a world class ref today given him that 2 and 2 at the end?

This reminds me a little of the USA/Soviet Olympic hockey game in '80. Gable was so used to winning easily, he panicked and lost focus when he got behind.