Top 5 NCAA Finals Matches (FREE VIDEO!!!)
- Thread starter razorsedgeCE
- Start date
Those were all great matches, but you have to go back about 47 years to pick the greatest NCAA finals match of all time ever - Dan Gable vs Larry Owings. The video is out there on YouTube. If you were to watch it today, most of you younger guys would disagree. But you can't pick up on the atmosphere just by watching a video. It was totally electrified. Both wrestlers had pinned their way to the finals, and on top of that, Gable had never lost a folkstyle match in either high school or college.
There were 6600 people in the gym that night. About 10 years ago, I did some statistical analysis to estimate that there were around 4400 people still alive who were there. I'm guessing that number is probably closer to 3500 - 4000 now. It's pretty cool to be an eyewitness to major wrestling history!
@AgSurfer Agreed, Gable-Owings was an amazing match, definitely worthy of making this list. I considered including it, but decided to cut the list off at 30 years due to the fact that I'm not as familiar with the previous era of wrestling, and also because it can be tough to find resources and material of the earlier stuff (even pictures). I could only imagine what that atmosphere would have been like!!! I've even seen an interview with Owings stating that "I wish it could have happened somewhere else..." But as we all know, it only added to the mystique of Gable. Thanks for posting!!!
Razor - another really good NCAA finals match was the following year after Gable was upset. Larry Owings was back again at 142, and Darrell Keller from Ok State had moved up to the same weight. The Keller vs Owings match in the finals has to be one of the best ever. The final score was something like 16-12 with Keller coming out on top.
I have a video of that match on a DVD. Darrell happens to be a good friend so he burned a copy for me. I've been looking for a way to get it out there so everyone can see it. Interested?
I have a video of that match on a DVD. Darrell happens to be a good friend so he burned a copy for me. I've been looking for a way to get it out there so everyone can see it. Interested?
Oh heck yea that would be awesome!!! I love watching those classic matches. I'd never heard what happened to Owings after his Gable win. Could you link it or possibly upload it to Youtube?
Owings and Gable met once again I believe, in an Olympics trials match won by Gable.
I met Owings briefly years ago when I lived in the Portland area and Owings was the wrestling coach at Oregon City High School. He obviously understands why his name is forever memorialized in wrestling lore but also he wanted people to understand that he wasn't just "chopped liver" either.
I met Owings briefly years ago when I lived in the Portland area and Owings was the wrestling coach at Oregon City High School. He obviously understands why his name is forever memorialized in wrestling lore but also he wanted people to understand that he wasn't just "chopped liver" either.
Oh yea definitely, I think you're right, although Gable may have won that bout 9 of 10 times, I think that it was labeled a fluke and therefore diminished Owings reputation. Very interesting, thanks for sharing. Do you know if the two have spoken many times since?
That I don't know. It was long time ago when I was in the Portland area (circa late 1980s) and the encounter was brief.
