Gable Stevenson has started his final year of eligibility as a college wrestler back at the University of Minnesota where the star has continued to shine. The athlete has started the season 11-0 but that is far from the goals he has set. Gable has had a wild run as an athlete participating in almost all levels of wrestling. However, to understand where he is today we must explore where it all started.
Gable Stevenson began wrestling at the varsity level as an eighth grader at Apple Valley high school located in Minnesota. The eighth grader would lose the state championship matchup his first year, but went on to win it as a freshman which turned heads across the country. In his entire high school career, Gable held a record of 210-3 winning four state championships, and a junior world championship.
When choosing a college his state school recruited him well and he decided to attend the University of Minnesota. As a freshman he held a record of 35-2, losing both matchups to the same wrestler. The losing was tough on the wrestler but 3rd place in the national championships as a freshman was not a failure by any means.
As a sophomore, the wrestler went a perfect 12-0 in the heavyweight division and was a top seed headed into the Big Ten tournament. In the tournament he was able to knock off the one seed from Michigan winning him the Big Ten title. The win put him as the 1 seed entering the national championships, however the season was cut short for Gable and the rest of the wrestling world due to Covid-19.
As a junior Stevenson was a perfect 17-0 on the season and would win his first NCAA title in the heavyweight division. This marked the first time a Gopher wrestler had won back to back titles since 2014. Not only was Gable winning, he was winning in record time. The junior recorded the second fastest pin in school history knocking off Connor Bowes in 13 seconds.
This time in the offseason Stevenson took his wrestling to the world stage. Gable was able to make it through the U.S. Olympic trials winning a best of three series against Nick Gwiazdowski. The win would send him to the Tokyo Olympics. While he was there he knocked off the former Olympic championship and secured a medal spot on only his first day of wrestling. Gable would go on to win the gold medal in freestyle, making him the first heavyweight to do so since 1992.
After Olympic gold the wrestler decided to take a different turn and followed in his brother’s footsteps entering the WWE. However, Gable first decided to compete in his senior year at the University of Minnesota. That season he won another NCAA title going 18-0. Then came his trip through the WWE where he participated in many events throughout three years. After being cut from the WWE Gable was forced to make one last decision.
The answer was thought to be football as Stevenson signed a practice team deal with the Buffalo Bills in the summer of 2024. However, he was released by the team in August giving him enough time to come back to the sport of wrestling. This year at the University of Minnesota Gable is competing as a graduate student as he was granted a fifth year of eligibility due to covid-19. Seeing Stevenson back in maroon and gold may feel odd for some but the veteran will hope to get it done for the Gophers once more come tournament time this spring.
