Iwrite

Agree with flyingcement and Hammerlock3 on WKN's status as best poster ever. Thought provoking and entertaining is a great combination.

"The New Breed: Living Iowa Wrestling" was written by Lou Banach and published in 1985. I was sports editor of the Cedar Rapids Gazette at the time and a friend of Lou's, and helped put it together. He was kind enough to put my name on the cover with his, and we have stayed in contact all these years. Here is what Mark Johnson, Gable's assistant at the time who went on to a great career as head coach at the U. of Illinois, wrote on the back cover -- "In The New Breed, Lou provides great insight. one no other author could. The high points and the low points, Lou tells it like it is, being a national champion on a national champion team, and coched by a legend." The book has many superb photos but is hard to find for sale anymore. Mike Chapman, author of 32 books (17 on wrestling), creator of WIN magazine, the Dan Hodge Trophy and the Dan Gable Museum.

In 1956, Dan Hodge won three national titles (NCAA, freestyle and Greco-Roman) in a month's time with 13 straight pins, heading into his senior yeat at OU. Then on April 1, 1957, Dan becomes the first wrestler to ever appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated, still the only one to this day. But Dan Gable was the most publicized wrestler by the national media that I ever saw. The amazing long streak of 180 in a row over 7 years and his incredible training routines and pinning prowess made him prime copy even in media centers that had never paid attention to wrestling. And then came Cael.

Good news indeed! Thanks, Rassling2.

Posted 9 hours ago I bet the spineless people who give the award out give it to Starocci and Hendrickson. There were 20,000 "spinelss people" who voted last year on line and a committee of former Dan Hodge Trophy winners, retired coaches and representavies from major wrestling organizations. To quote another wrestler who was also successful in poitics -- "With malice toward none, with charity for all."

mspart -- "That Gable ability to get in heads is something that cannot be taught in my opinion. That's what makes him great". You are 100 percent correct. I've known Dan for nealry 50 years, both in my role as a newspaper reporter and as a friend, and he is totally unique in that regard.

WKN and SocraTease -- Good discussion and beneficial to anyone interested in wrestlers being honored. When I first came up with the concept back in 1994, I sat down with Dan Hodge (my first book was "Two Guys Named Dan" in 1976 and we became very good friends) and told him of my plans to create something similar to the Heisman Trophy, to draw more media attention and to give college wrestlers something extra to shoot for. Dan endorsed the idea and said if I named it after him, he would like pinning to be an essential part. In 1956, Dan won three national titles (collegiate, freestyle and Greco-Roman) in two weeks time by pinning all 13 foes. I quickly agreed that pinning would be a main factor. But since then, Bryan Van Kley (who bought WIN from me many years ago) and I have tried to "keep up with the times" by including dominance to mean techs and majors, as well as pins. And we consult with many former coaches and leaders of the sport who are on the voting committee and try to listen to what fans are saying (WKN and JB, in particular) and some of my longtime friends who have been involved with the sport for over half a century. Bryan and I are proud that over 20,000 fans vote on line each year and that all the colleges that have a winner play it up big, both at the annual wrestling banquet and at a football game in the fall, often with 70,000 fans in attendance. And we greatly appreciate our sponsor Asics. The goal was always to make wrestling more visible and to honor those who excel at Mankind's Oldest Sport. -- Mike Chapman

Great work, Fishbane. You and WKN and JB are all truly amazing!

Interesting to note that the National Wrestling Hall of Fame bio of Myron Roderick states that his OSU teams once produced 84 consecutive duals without a loss. I guess that means there could have been a tie in there, which makes it different than wins in a row. And that is supported by his overall dual recoerd of 140-10-7.

Flying Cement -- Congratulations for one of the most intriguing and entertaining posts I have ever seen here.

Tough to scramble when you can't move because your wrists are locked tight in an iron grip. BTW, I am an Askren fan too.

All the old-timers I have talked to said they felt Hodge would shut anyone down once he got on top and grabbed thieir wrists. Gary Kurdelmeier, a very powerful wrestler who was NCAA champion at 177 the year after Hodge, wrestled him twice and was pinned both times, and had black and blue marks on his arms for several days. Gary said Hodge would turn anyone who had the courage to really wrestle and not just turtle up on him. Wayne Baughman, winner of 16 national titles in all styles and a keen observer of the sport for half a century as a wrestler and a coach, said in his opinion Hodge would have beaten anyone in college stye wrestling. I guess we all have our own opinons of who was the best, and why. The best wrestler I ever saw in person, during my 55 years of writing aobut the sport, was Dan Gable as a junior. He was 31-0 with 29 pins. He also beat five NCAA champions during his college career, including three two-timers.

No way to leave Dan Hodge off any such list. Never lost in college and never taken down his entire college career. Pinned over 73 percent of foes. His junior year, Hodge won the NCAA title with four straight pins, the freestyle title with five pins and then entered the Greco-Roman nationals (his first ever try in that style) and won with four more pins. So, he won three national titles in less than a month's time with 13 straight pins. And his impact on the sport was such that to this day he remains (sadly) the only wrestler to ever appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated. 7

They are truly studs, in all walks of life. Anyone wanting to know more about them can look for a book written by Lou in 1985 called "The New Breed: Living Iowa Wrestling", or the book "Uncommon Bonds: A Journey in Optimism", written by all three Banachs in 2015. "The New Breed" has a terrific cover photo with Lou, Ed, Barry Davis, Jim Zalesky and Pete Bush pictured. Lou provides a great insiders look at the program during the Gable years. Some outstanding photos, as well. The photo of Lou wrestling 405-pound Tab Thacker is fascinating. The book is hard to find but pops up on EBay every now and then.

Steve and Lou in recent photo.