Dan Rowray

A short time ago I was surprised to learn that Dan was alive as recently as 1975, and might still be alive in Coralville, Iowa. The last I heard of Dan he had broken his neck at a freestyle wrestling tournament two weeks after he won the 1970 high school state meet. He was expected to be quadriplegic for life, and I always assumed that his life thereafter would be cut short due to complications. Learning that he was still alive caused some reminiscing of my high school days.


The winter of 1967-68 was my sophomore year at C. R. Washington High School and we had a sophomore wrestling meet scheduled with Jefferson High School. Even as a sophomore at Jefferson, Dan had shown promise as a wrestler, so my teammates whispered about our upcoming match for weeks.

I don’t remember our sophomore match specifically, but I do remember bits and pieces. There were no spectators because the match was held in our wrestling room and was officiated by one of the coaches. It was a low-key wrestling meet. The score in my match with Dan wasn’t any more than a 2-point differential. In the spirit of never letting facts get in the way of a good story I’ve always thought that I won the match, and that it might have been the last match Dan ever lost. That may be incorrect, but it’s the way I like to remember it.

As the next two years went by I didn’t realize that there were opportunities to wrestle year-round. Dan wrestled throughout those years, and I ran track and cross-country instead. I became a JV wrestler and Dan became an All-American. I think I wrestled Dan a couple more times, but I never beat him again.

One of those years my talented teammate, Aaron, was ineligible for a major wrestling tournament. The night before the meet I got a call from the coach informing me that I would be filling in for Aaron. Aaron was all too frequently absent from wrestling meets and I never knew why. It was always my pleasure to imagine that he was ineligible due to truancy, academics, conduct, or criminal offenses. Had I been told by the coach I would have believed any, or all of the above. It wasn’t kind of me, but that was who I was at that time.

So with infrequent varsity wrestling experience I was thrown into this major tournament as the lowest seed in a 16-man bracket and was scheduled to wrestle the #1 seed in the bracket. The #1 seed was Dan. Dan had become a wrestler of great renown, had won many tournaments in several states, and was expected to make the state finals. There was some speculation in the newspapers that he might become the next Dan Gable.

I remember several snippets from our match at that tournament. At the referee’s starting whistle Dan immediately took a shot on my legs and had a takedown and two points before I knew what was happening. He briefly worked for some back points, but then intentionally let me up so he could take me down again. I was insulted that he would give me a point by letting me escape and had the audacity to think he could take me down again. I vowed that he would not get a shot on my legs again.

Sure enough, Dan shot on my legs again and was faster than I could imagine. His takedown move was so perfectly executed that it caused me to collapse to the mat like a sack of potatoes. It really ticked me off. I knew he was going to shoot on my legs, was prepared to defend, and it made no difference whatsoever.

What I remember of the rest of that match is Dan taking me down at will and letting me up just to do it all over again. During the takedown scrambles he would occasionally get another 2 or 3 points for back exposure, sometimes for long periods of time, but was never able to pin me. I never scored an offensive point of my own – I only got single points when Dan intentionally let me up. It was a thorough thrashing by one of the best wrestlers ever in the state. Dan won by a large margin and I was out of the tournament.

What I remember vividly after the match is picking up my warm-up sweats and heading over to sit on the first row of the bleachers to cool off. My folks came over to sit with me and be supportive, but no words were spoken – none were needed. I was feeling lower than an earthworm, and hanging my head pretty low. Instead of talking to the waiting media, Dan came over to sit with me and chat. I remember thinking, “Holy smokes! Every wrestling fan in this gymnasium knows who Dan is, but not a one of them knows who I am. I bet they are all wondering why Dan wants to talk to that guy from C.R Washington he just thrashed.” I was wondering the same thing. Well, it turns out that Dan is just a good guy.

I shook Dan’s hand again, just as we do at the end of a match, and I apologized for not being much of a challenge. Dan’s reply to me, in front of my parents, is why I remember him fondly. He said that I was always a challenge, that I always made him work hard, and that I never gave up the entire match. He said he was never able to pin me and was never able to get any rest. He just hoped he had enough energy left after wrestling me to make it through the next several rounds and get into the finals.

I don’t know if any of that was true. It may have all been lies, but they were compassionate lies, and they were said in front of my folks. Dan was gracious in his victory and gave me a measure of dignity. It was a lesson I’ve not forgotten 40 years later.

When the state meet came around I was cheering for Dan when he beat Aaron 4-3 in the state finals. Dan was 29-0 that year.