For amateur and Olympic wrestling fans, the name Dan Gable is synonymous with Olympic wrestling. In most circles, Dan Gable is the greatest Olympic wrestler in the history of the sport. Gable is currently 76 years of age, but his wrestling history is legendary. Born in Waterloo, Iowa, Gable has won an Olympic gold medal, twice became NCAA Division I champion, and finds himself in the United World Wrestling and International Sports Hall of Fames. He was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2020.
Dan Gable’s gold medal in the Olympics came in 1972 at the games of Munich. That is where I discovered this amazing athlete, but he also won a world championship the year before and finished first in the Pan Am
erican games of 1971. His college titles came in 1968 and 1969, but he also finished second in 1970. His wrestling weight came at 130, 137, and 142 pounds while in college.
Gable began wrestling before the age of 15 and because of his amazing wrestling career, he has a museum inside the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in Iowa named after him. Dan Gable owns the greatest wrestling won/loss record in history and perhaps the most remarkable record in any sport. In 182 matches during his prep school and college career, he lost just once. That’s a 181-1 record. His sole loss came in his senior year at college and his response to that was, “after the loss, then I got good.”
Gable would later become the head coach of the University of Iowa wrestling team. There his team won 21 Big Ten team titles. His record in the Big Ten was nearly as good as his personal record finishing his career there with a 131-2-1 mark. Iowa also won 15 NCAA wrestling titles. In high school his record was 64-0 and pinned 25 opponents. This included three Iowa state titles while attending Waterloo West High School from 1964-1966 at the weight of 95 pounds for the first three years and then at 112 pounds his senior year.
There have been some great wrestlers over the years and while the sport of amateur wrestling is not as popular as some other major sports, it still has a stronghold in schools around the United States. In Newport, New York, perhaps another Dan Gable is getting his start in the sport. One Joshua E. Lekki is from that town, and the 12-year-old athletic youth began taking part in competitive sports in 2019 when he was seven.
Participating in basketball, soccer, football, flag football, and now wrestling, Joshua also played soccer for five seasons. Lekki’s football career will be his fifth season this fall. It was first flag football before moving into tackle football. Joshua loves the sport of football and will continue to play competitively. In basketball, he didn’t believe his skill set was up to par to continue so he discontinued playing.
More recently Joshua Lekki found his mark in the sport of wrestling. It began with matches held i
n a friend’s garage with his buddies as opponents. That led to joining a team and having his first practice just this past December. On March 2, 2025, Joshua entered his first-ever organized wrestling tournament, the New York State Novice State Tournament held in Albany, New York.
The tournament drew 450 wrestling youths and just like Dan Gable’s high school career, Joshua Lekki was wrestling at 95 pounds. To win first place Lekki would have to defeat five opponents. Lekki’s reaction to his first match was this:
“My first match was a little difficult because I was still getting into the rhythm of wrestling”
Lekki had no problem finding his rhythm…he pinned his opponent in the second period. His opponent was Dominick Secreto and the final score was 3-0. Next up was Kayden Lester and with Lekki now feeling his groove, he not only pinned Lester, but he also dominated him. With a victory coming before the end of the period, Lekki had built a lead of 6-0 after the first period then scored four more in the second period to enter the final stage with a lead of 10-0. With the pin, Lekki won the match 14-0. Secreto obviously was not happy about how he lost and threw a punch at Lekki.
Perhaps his success came as a mild surprise competing in his first ever tournament, so next up was David Boyce Jr. Lekki’s coach told his protégé he would have to be at a 100% effort because the final two wrestlers were particularly good. Not a problem for Lekki as he pinned Andrew Paulo in the second round and won 10-0 as he advanced to the championship match.
Joshua Lekki would face Ronan Hanczarowski from the Newfane Youth Wrestling Club and in one round, it was over. His fifth straight pin awarded Joshua Lekki the 95-pound New York State Novice State Tournament title. Five matches, five pins, and undefeated in his very first competitive tournament. I’ve never 
understood why amateur/Olympic wrestling has not become a professional sport with teams hailing from cities around the United States and the world.
Forgot pro wrestling, that’s all theater and not a true sport. In fact, the Olympics nearly banned the sport a few years back. But in upstate New York in the town of Newport, the Dolgeville Youth Wrestling club may be seeing a young Dan Gable in the making.
