The state of Iowa is just as well known for prominent wrestlers as it is acres of corn and beans. That gives the state the mighty distinction of feeding the world and defeating it on the mat. Men like Dan Gable, Tom Brands, Harold Nichols, Jim Miller, Nick Mitchell and Chuck Patten led Iowa colleges to forty-four of an astounding sixty-nine national team championships. In 1954, Simon Roberts of Davenport was the first African American to win a state wrestling title and later the first African American NCAA wrestling champion. Wrestler Norman Borlaug received the Nobel Peace Prize and is credited with preventing more than one billion deaths from starvation. Author Dan McCool details the long history of hard work and dedication from the fields to the mat.
Wrestling is as much a part of winter in Iowa as is snow and cold. Dreams of state championships begin in elementary school and, since 1972, come to fruitionor heartbreakingly fall shortat an arena in Des Moines in February or March. The tournament finals sell out, and individuals and teams carve their names on the sports history tree each year. Some champions were deaf, some were amputees, but all earn the respect of thousands for their work ethica hallmark of the states populace. Is this heaven? No, its better than that. Its high school wrestling in Iowa!
When most people think of Dan Gable, they think of an almost mythic intensity toward wrestling. A Wrestling Life 2 explains what have come to be known as the Gable Trained principles that Gable follows to keep his life full of "wins," revelations about how to cultivate success at the highest levels, and the reasons behind these steps for living well. Gable brings together his thoughts about his words, actions, failures, and achievements, while telling countless engaging stories. Readers will learn about the start of his wrestling career in Waterloo, how he went from being an Iowa State wrestler to a University of Iowa coach, and about his international and Olympic wrestling and coaching.
The state of Iowa is just as well known for prominent wrestlers as it is acres of corn and beans. That gives the state the mighty distinction of feeding the world and defeating it on the mat. Men like Dan Gable, Tom Brands, Harold Nichols, Jim Miller, Nick Mitchell and Chuck Patten led Iowa colleges to forty-four of an astounding sixty-nine national team championships. In 1954, Simon Roberts of Davenport was the first African American to win a state wrestling title and later the first African American NCAA wrestling champion. Wrestler Norman Borlaug received the Nobel Peace Prize and is credited with preventing more than one billion deaths from starvation. Author Dan McCool details the long history of hard work and dedication from the fields to the mat.
Despite its status as one of the oldest and most enduringly popular sports in history, wrestling has been pushed to the background of the current American sports scene. Most people today would have a hard time even considering wrestling (with some of its modern theatrics) in the same terms as track and field or boxing. But until the 1920s, wrestling stood as a legitimate professional sport in this country, and a widely practiced amateur one as well. Its past respectability may not have endured, but the advent of cable television in the 1980s offered the sport a renewed opportunity to play a determining role in American popular culture. This opportunity was not wasted, and wrestlers now assume places in politics and film at the highest levels. Ringside, the first work to fully examine the history of professional wrestling in this country, provides an illuminating and colorful account of all of the various athletes, entertainers, businessmen, and national outlooks that have determined wrestling's erratic route through American history. This chronological work begins with a brief account of wrestling's global history, and then proceeds to investigate the sport's growth as a specifically American institution. Wrestling has continued to survive in the face of technological developments, scandals, public ridicule, and a lack of centralized control, and today this supremely adaptable entertainment form represents, in sum, an international industry capable of attracting enormous television and pay-per-view audiences, along with massive amounts of advertising and merchandizing revenue. Ringside focuses on the business of wrestling as well as on the performers and their in-ring antics, and offers readers a fully nuanced examination of the development of professional wrestling in America.
Award-winning reporter Nolan Zavoral explores the University of Iowa's storied wrestling program and Danny Mack Gable's record of excellence in an unprecedented, intimate look at the man and his methods.
Wrestling Tough, Second Edition, will inspire and guide you to achieve the mind-set of a champion. Whether you need to identify the flaws of an opponent, get optimally psyched for a big match, or overcome the adversity inherent in participating in the sport, Wrestling Tough will prepare you to excel and win.
