Hey this is kinda an off topic, but who's the better wrestler out of the two? I know Sanderson's not done with his career yet, but he's got a lot to make an argument already.

Two completely different types of wrestlers. Gable was a control freak, rode like a bear and pinned when it was there. Sanderson is very artistic and likes to flow in a match and hit move after move. Both just totally dominant mentally and that is where they were the same in concentration. I guess what I am saying is that I dont know and I have seen them both live. Just two completely different kinds of wrestlers both great.

nobody can compare to Dan Gable. I remember once an Olympic Champion came into a gable practice and wanted to wrestled Dan thinking he could beat him. After the practice he said he didn't score one takedown, and that Gable totaly killed him. No matter how good someone's record is or what they've done, no one will ever do whawt Dan Gable did. He is the GREATEST athlete known to man!!

Wow talk about hero worship running amok! Gable was great no doubt but he had his tough moments. He lost many times in freestyle before he got his legs in that area. Larry Owings beat him pretty soundly, life was not all easy for Gable at times on the mat. He isn't a God, lots of people extended him but the point is he was very very tough and overcame a lot to get where he was and is. Give him his due but he was flesh and blood and he can get beat just like Sanderson can and did last week. No doubt two of the three or four best ever from this country and in the top ten in the world all time I think (Sanderson will be by the time he is done I believe). But it wasnt and isnt easy even for them.

who beat sanderson and what was the score and where was the match?

Larry Owings beat Gable, but it was not what might be characterized as "soundly". I believe the final score was 13-11... or something like that. My feeling is Gable set the standard for future wrestling in the US.... at the time when we had little success in world competition.

No doubt Gable changed everything about wrestling in this country, especially in regard to the expectations of American wrestlers on the international stage. I am sure not trying to denigrate anything he did, I am just pointing out that he was one of many at the time that were very tough, Owings, Wayne Wells (also an Olympic Champ) His claim to fame was that he was undefeated as a collegian until Owings got him. He beat Owings in the third match of two out of three in overtime crit decision for the Olympics later on. They were very close in talent.

Sanderson got beat by the reigning world champion from Cuba last Saturday night. Not bad though for his first major international comp. It was in Overtime.

Come to think of it Gable was actually one of a wave of new tough champions at that time that I think as a group caused change in American wrestling. Ben and John Peterson were Olympic champs, Wayne Wells, Lloyd Keaser, also were Olympic champs of the day. That group was very successful and Gable was the leader of tht bunch.

after gable's loss to owings, he trained like crazy and wrestled him again for the united states team and won 7-1. He didn't get scored on once when he wrestled in the Olympics at Rome. I would like to see any other wrestler do that!

Nobody is arguing the greatness of Dan Gable. No question aboutit. People just get selective memory on things sometimes. Owings had two wins over Gable in freestyle that year also. They actually split in their matches two two and Dan won the tie breaker to get the Olympic berth. Two of the greatest wrestlers in the world him and Larry Owings. What I am saying is that their were great wrestlers in that time frame and sometimes I think Dan gets credit for the whold deal when there was a great group that actually all changed the way wrestling was going in this country.

Colby CC coach Steve Lampe - who was a teammate of Gable at ISU - has told me that as good as Gable was, it was not unusual for him to get taken down at the onset of a match. But Lamp goes on to say that scoring on Gable was the worst thing an opponent could do, because it ignited Gable into a frenzy that typically resulted in a painful, physical domination the rest of the match.

People always say that Gable only wrestled in three NCAA finals whereas Sanderson won four, but in Gable's day freshman were not eligible for NCAA competition. However, as a freshman in an open tournament, Gable defeated the reigning NCAA champ in an overtime decision (again, coming from Lamp)!

The thing that strikes me about Sanderson was how fluid he was, even in a scramble. And also how confident and comfortable he was in the suicide type roll throughs that often resulted in big points.

Don't know that you can compare the two because of the generation gap, but one thing you can say is that they both were absolutely phenominal.

There was guy on the 72' Olympic team that took a gold medal... wore a beard... Sanders I think... he was killed in a car accident after the Olympics that summer while touring Europe... he too was part of the group that put the US on the world map. Anyone remember this?

Just to clarify. Gable wrestled in the 72 Olympics in Munich, not Rome as stated earlier.

yep he was a wonderful wrestler and a big free spirit. I don't know if he took gold or silver but he was amazing on his feet. I think he was struck by a car while hitchhiking or something like that. I don't remember really it was some sort of traffic accident. Oh he was unbelievable as was Carl Adams and several others I forgot about. That was a great group for about eight years or so there. Wayne Wells was the best single legger I ever saw, boy he could nail it time after time.