A Season on the Mat: Dan Gable and the Pursuit of Perfection

by Nolan Zavoral

For the past twenty-one years, Dan Gable's Iowa Hawkeyes have dominated wrestling to an extent rarely seen in any sport. In A Season on the Mat, award-winning reporter Nolan Zavoral explores Iowa's storied wrestling program and Gable's record of excellence in an unprecedented, intimate look at the man and his methods.
As Gable approached the 1996-1997 season, he was a mere shell of his usual, vigorous self. A dozen back and knee surgeries had reduced his proud athlete's walk to that of a stooped, shambling old man.
A Season on the Mat chronicles this dramatic season, in which Gable led his team - far from his most talented - to the national title. Zavoral takes the reader behind the scenes, into the stifling heat of the wrestling room where young men from places like Rock Falls, Iowa, or Philip, South Dakota, sacrifice everything they have just to be a part of the Hawkeye program. We watch strong-willed athletes like Mike Mena, whose struggle to make weight almost cost him a shot at the national championship; Lincoln McIlravy, who overcame persistent severe headaches to win his third national title in his four-year career; and all the other wrestlers who contributed to a record-breaking performance at the NCAAs, scoring the most points in collegiate wrestling history.
But most important, we see the man behind the Gable legend. From his difficult upbringing, interrupted by the tragedy of his sister's brutal murder, through the single defeat that haunts him to this day, to the ups and downs of his phenomenal coaching career, Gable has come to symbolize to many all that is special about this demanding, elemental sport.

Genres: Sports, Biography Memoir

288 pages, Hardcover

First published March 12, 1998

Reviews

[Conor Smyth · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like any grappling sports, you should read this book. Excellent expose on wrestling culture in the states.

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone who ever wanted to understand the crazy sport known as wrestling should check this book out. This book is written in a clear, engaging way and takes the reader through a complete college season from pre to post season and all the ups and downs that occur within those time frames. For die hard wrestlers and fans, the descriptions in this book are spot on and provides a great look into the coaching style and mindset of the legendary Dan Gable.

[Tim P · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you don't understand wrestling, this book gives the best insight into the sport of any written.

If you ever wrestled, this book will give you goosebumps.

A history of one of the most impressive seasons in Iowa's history, a profile of Dan Gable, the toughest dude in the world, and a testament to Ken Chertow's axiom "Hard Work Makes Dreams Come True."

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dan Gable is the most successful wrestling coach and (arguably) wrestler in American history. This biography goes back and forth each chapter between Gable's youth and his last season as a coach. This is the best bio I've read so far. Even for someone who does not follow wrestling, I think, this book is enjoyable. And it has pictures!

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

a lot of stats, but if you're into this sorta thing you can feel the intensity of Gable

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not great, but not bad. Probably would be better enjoyed by a rabid Hawkeye wrestling fan.

[Brandon Terrill · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent college wrestling book. Teaches a lot about the sport that is still relevant in 2024. Not many options for a behind-the-scenes tell-all book about wrestling; this one is well done. Recommend for any wrestling fan!

[Rory Eisele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this. I'm a native Iowan and former wrestler and was at his final dual against ISU. Fascinating, old school man.

[Augusto Bernardi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book delivers exactly what it sets out to do and is a perfect depiction of Dan Gable's last season as head coach of the Iowa wrestling team in the perspective of Dan Gable's. That's a loaded statement so let me break that down. I think that the author Nolan did a really great job in not just documenting how the season progressed bit by bit with each individual wrestler, but he also shows Gable's mindset and intense devotion to his coaching job. Like his career as an athlete, Gable is an extremist that achieved great heights, that really are unparalleled and cannot be replicated (more on that later) and that most importantly took a toll on his body and life. Gable's insane run as a college wrestler and then impossible steak in the Olympics required a gruelling and ruthless lifestyle of constantly training or training harder than his opponents. Anyone that knows anything about Gable in his later life can quickly see how that made him walk and look like an older man in his forties. The same applies to his coaching career as well. Gable coaches more and with more passion and dedication than maybe anyone anywhere else. Knows all the athletes individually and coaches them individually accordingly. Balancing on a thin line between wanting the best for the person themselves (physically at peak performance with no injuries) and making the athletes and the team win. He knows the deep technical side of wrestling that Nolan actually does a great job in describing the chaotic struggle of the two athletes. I'm deeply inspired by the parts where Gable goes to the sauna with his athletes while they are cutting weight or when he makes the athletes watch footage and study their last performances. And the results show too. Not just does he have a ridiculous amount of wins as coach but also his last season was his most dominant. That's telling of the toll that it takes on him too as he had to undergo serious hip surgeries that also come from him being so involved in the physical side of coaching too. Thankfully he has a really supportive family that helps and allows him to have a foundation to achieve such an extreme lifestyle but how long can one possibly do that for? What I didn't enjoy about this book was precisely what I also just admired about the book. Nolan was so meticulous in his account of the season, to the point where I'm not exaggerating when I saw that a lot of chapters had numbers and results on EVERY. SINGLE. paragraph. It was unbelievably repetitive and boring and I guess that's a fundamental part of Gable's life as a coach. Always juggling these numbers in his head for decades. This is one of the reasons it took me so long to finish this book. Lastly, the end of the book is a pivotal part in the history of Iowa wrestling and I did think that it was a bit rushed. That might have to do with when this book was actually written but I did not think that Zalensky's perspective was properly explained to the extent that he explained literally everything else in the book. Zalensky was eventually fired as Gable's replacement as head coach, even after he won 3 championships in a row and then got second the following 2 years. He was replaced by the legendary Tom Brands and he still is there today but he was not nearly as successful as Zalensky was in that amount of time and not nearly as good as Gable ever was. And that might be the point of the book in the first place. What Gable did as a coach and as an athlete may be impossible to replicate. That is perfection. Maybe even Gable couldn't do it forever.

[Sean Ramsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Season on the Mat: A Pursuit of Perfection is an excellent name for the book I read. The book teaches us how to go for the gold and reach perfection. The book is a description of the 1995 season of Dan Gable’s Iowa Hawkeye’s national title Wrestling Team. That is the year that they won one of their many national championships. The book takes the reader through the life of Dan Gable’s wrestling and coaching career. It goes through the lineup and how wrestlers switched weights and how they practiced and recovered through injuries. It showed the trials and tribulations you have to endure to get to perfection. It teaches us how to be a leader and work hard; even if you do not wrestle it applies to you as well. Dan Gable’s leadership tips are good for off the mat as well, because it teaches you how to be strong and responsible. He pushed himself past the point of exhaustion and now he is a great leader and wrestler. The book was well written, because of how they incorporated all the details; small and big. It had quotes describing the stuff in the book. I am a wrestler and this book has made me want to work harder in practice, and be more like Dan Gable when I practice. I think everybody needs to read this book so they can get the motivational support that they need to do the everyday things. Wrestlers especially need this so they can strive for perfection, and give it all they have on the mat. You can give it all you have in the work place and home, by doing what you have to and not arguing and procrastinating. Dan Gable is an extraordinary leader and mentor for those who struggle with leadership.

[Jack Streicher · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Season on the Mat, by Nolan Zavoral, is a thrilling journey through Dan Gable’s last year as Iowa’s head wrestling coach. Dan Gable is not just his wrestlers coach, he is also their friend. Gable puts his wrestlers and their families before himself. He personally connects with each wrestler and their families. Gable also helps his wrestlers with their personal problems and gets them through their rough patches. The wrestlers see him as a friend and companion more than a coach. Through the ups and downs as a head coach, Dan Gable and his team end his last season very strong.


A Season on the Mat is a non-fictional sports book and was written in 1997 and published in 1998. Zavoral really focuses on Gables relationships with the wrestlers and their families. He shows us how committed heis to each of his wrestlers even if they are not in the starting line-up. Zavoral’s tone is very calm and informing off the mat, but intense when they are at practice. Zavoral really put his heart into catching every moment of this novel.


I really like how Zavoral captured both sides of Dan Gable’s life and how he spent it. I had a strong connection the the book because I have followed and supported Iowa wrestling all my life and my dad wrestled for Gable when he attended Iowa. To enjoy this book you must understand wrestling terms and know a little background information about Dan Gable. People that understand wrestling and know Dan Gable will really be into this book and won’t regret reading it.

[Oliver Bateman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book's way better than A Season on the Brink--it's nearly a masterpiece--but it came and went with far less acclaim because the best wrestler in the history of the world is about as culturally significant (on a national scale, anyway) as the best grasshopper in the history of the world. Kudos to Zavoral for dealing intelligently with the monomaniacal and at times tragic life of Dan Gable, and for addressing the innumerable injuries Gable's wrestlers sustained (and how he drove them, stupidly and against his trainer's wishes at times, to "play through the pain").

[Nate Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great account of how to go out as a coach or an athlete.

[Kevin Thang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice short read detailing one particular season (1997) of a historic career for the sport of wrestling's greatest coach of all time.

[Timmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could not put this one down. As good and very similar to A Season on the Brink.