HAWK ENCOUNTER

This morning I went to the local grocery store wearing my favorite Hawykeye t-shirt.  A man, roughly my age and sporting a ball cap and thick 1970s style mustache, was leaving the store as I was entering.  He noticed my shirt and blurted, "Hey, Dan Gable . . . Iowa State!"  He flashed a quick, spirited grin, and was past me, headed for his pick-up.  

The man's statement caught me off guard and seemed entirely out of place.  I followed him with my eyes, wondering who he was, and how he lives in Washington and knows anything about Iowa, or Gable.

Dan Gable coached the Iowa Hawkeyes for more than 20 years, but he previously wrestled for Iowa State.  These facts are often confused by regular folks, or by casual wrestling fans outside of Iowa.  This fellow noticed my Iowa Hawkeye shirt, but cited Iowa State, assembling both pieces of the puzzle.  He must, I thought, have actual working knowledge of Gable, and his recollection was not just a random synapse firing on some ancient, mainstream Sports Illustrated story.

Washington once boasted 27 college wrestling programs.  We used to be like other states, where you could regularly encounter folks wearing worn out college wrestling shirts, or everyday guys with cauliflower ears.  We now have just one junior college wrestling team, and sadly, after a genocide of sorts, we are virtually cleansed of any reminders of our sport at the higher levels.

So, when a fellow in Washington says, "Hey, Dan Gable . . . Iowa State!" it suddenly takes me back to a richer wrestling time in our state.  It feels good, if only for a moment.