Courtesy of the University of Iowa

CONRAD – Legendary wrestler and coach Dan Gable will visit Conrad on Nov. 4 as a part of Museums on Main Street.

Conrad Chamber – Main Street Executive Director Krista Grant said Gable will be appearing from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the BCLUW High School for a talk and book signing event. Gable will speak about his storied life in wrestling and close the afternoon with a book signing. He will bring copies of his books for purchase or sign ones attendees bring.

“We are extremely excited to have our guest speaker series kick off with legendary Coach Dan Gable visiting Conrad on Sunday,” said Conrad Chamber – Main Street committee member Shane Jacobson. “I can’t imagine a better ambassador than Coach Gable who has positively impacted the lives of so many hometown teams and student athletes and coaches across the great state of Iowa.”

Gable, the honorary spokesperson for the Hometown Teams exhibit as it travels through Iowa, is supporting the tour by visiting each host city and displaying some of his memorabilia when the exhibit opens in Conrad on Nov. 17.

During his prep and college wrestling careers, Gable compiled a record of 181-1. He was undefeated in 64 prep matches and was 117-1 at Iowa State University. His only defeat came in the NCAA finals his senior year. Gable was a two-time NCAA National Wrestling Champion and three-time all-American and three-time Big Eight champion. He set NCAA records in winning and pin streaks.

After college, Gable added titles at the 1971 Pan American Games in Cali Columbia and World Championships in Sofia Bulgaria and in 1972 the Soviet Union’s famed Tbilisi Tournament in Tblisi Georgia. He won an unprecedented six Midlands Open championships and was that meet’s outstanding wrestler five times. Gable won a Gold Medal at famed 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich Germany without surrendering a single point. The Soviets came to the Olympics with only one goal in mind: to defeat Gable. They were unsuccessful.

As the University of Iowa’s all-time winningest coach from 1976 to 1997, Gable won 15 NCAA National Wrestling Team Titles while compiling a career record of 355-21-5. He coached 152 All-Americans, 45 National Champions, 106 Big Ten Champions and 12 Olympians, including four gold, one silver and three bronze medalists. Some of his most recent accolades include being named the top wrestler of the 20th Century by Gannett News Service; listed as one of the top coaches in the 20th Century by ESPN and named Iowa’s top “sports figure” in the past 100 years.

Before Gable’s appearance, BCLUW’s YSF football league will be sponsoring a free-will donation lunch of soup and desserts from 11 a. m. until 1. p. m. in the high school commons.

Local Museum on Main chairwoman Peg Brown said Gable’s appearance is the first in a series of four speakers that will accompany the Smithsonian Institutes traveling exhibit “#HometownTeams: How Sports Shape America” when it comes to Conrad on its final Iowa stop from Nov. 17 -Dec. 31.

Other planned speakers include: Mr. Baseball – John Liepa (baseball historian, archivist and collector) on Dec. 1 at the Conrad Public Library; Denise Long Rife (Union Whitten’s 6-on-6 Championship girls basketball player) on Dec. 8 at the library and Aaron Thomas (author and son of Aplington-Parkersburg’s legendary coach Ed Thomas) on Dec. 15 at the First Presbyterian Church. The times will be announced closer to the dates on Conrad’s Museum on Main Street Facebook page.

“The Smithsonian’s Hometown Teams traveling exhibition examines the many roles that sports play in American society,” according to its website. “Hometown sports are more than just games — they shape our lives and unite us and celebrate who we are as Americans. From pick-up games to organized leagues, millions of Americans of all ages play sports. And, if we’re not playing sports, we’re watching them. We sit in the stands and root for the local high school team, or gather on the sidelines and cheer on our sons and daughters as they take their first swing or score their first goal …. What has occurred in our hometowns is nothing less than a sports revolution.”

The Smithsonian exhibit will be available for viewing in the Alexander meeting room of the Conrad Public Library, Brown said. In addition, the Conrad Heritage Hall Museum located on Center Street in the City hall building, will have exhibits of local sports history and memorabilia etc.

More information can be found on ‘Conrad’s Museum on Main Street’ Facebook page. The event is sponsored jointly by Conrad Chamber Main Street, The Smithsonian Institute Museums on Main Street and Main Street Iowa.