Des Moines Register: ‘Dan Gable Day’ recognizes Iowa wrestling legend, Des Moines Register: ‘Dan Gable Day’ recognizes Iowa wrestling legend

Mark your calendars – Oct. 25, 2013, is officially Dan Gable Day in Iowa.

Lawmakers in the Iowa House approved a resolution Thursday morning designating the day in honor of the wrestling hero.

The House Resolution 31 lauds the former Olympian and University of Iowa coach as an “ambassador” for the sport who “changed the landscape of the high school and college wrestling worlds.”

Gable appeared in the House chambers to a standing ovation after the resolution was passed.

“I’m not going to let up; I’m good for business,” he said.

In addition to Dan Gable Day, lawmakers passed a resolution opposing the International Olympic Committee’s decision to drop wrestling as an Olympic event. A similar resolution was approved in the Iowa Senate.

House Resolution 20 noted the sport’s roots in ancient Greece, its thousands of years of history and its special prominence in Iowa, which has top-flight wrestling programs at the University of Iowa and Iowa State University and which has produced 23 Olympic medalists.

The IOC’s move threatens the future of the sport, the resolution said.

The House and Senate’s official moves follows a campaign by Gov. Terry Branstad to preserve the sport’s place in the Olympics and coincides with the NCAA’s wrestling championship tournament opening today in Des Moines.