Owings was Jr. when he beat Gable. He wrestled NCAA's at 130 as a So., and lost his 3rd match. Owings ended up 87-4 and a 2x NCAA finalist. Pretty good career for such a huge underdog vs. Gable.
Not correct. Owings was a 3X NCAA finalist. He beat Gable in 1970, lost to Darrell Keller in 1971 and lost to Tom Milkovich in 1972. He wrestled as a freshman in the 1969 NCAA championships and got to the quarterfinals. I don't remember when the rules were changed allowing freshmen to wrestle, but he did get to compete for 4 years.