Gable Steveson
Personal information | |
---|---|
Nationality | American |
Born | Portage, Indiana, U.S. | May 31, 2000
Home town | Apple Valley, Minnesota, U.S. |
Alma mater | University of Minnesota |
Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) |
Weight | 265 lb (120 kg) |
Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) |
Billed weight | 265 lb (120 kg) |
Billed from | Portage, Indiana, US |
Trained by | WWE Performance Center Ken Anderson |
Debut | July 30, 2023 |
Sport | |
Country | United States |
Sport | Wrestling |
Event(s) | Freestyle and Folkstyle |
College team | Gopher WC [1] |
Club | Minnesota Storm [2] |
Coached by | Brandon Eggum,[3] Dustin Schlatter[2] |
Medal record
|
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Gable Dan Steveson (born May 31, 2000) is an American professional wrestler, freestyle wrestler and folkstyle wrestler who is currently signed to WWE and is performing on the NXT brand.[4]
In freestyle, Steveson claimed the 2020 Summer Olympic gold medal, and was also a three-time age-group world champion.[5][6] In folkstyle, Steveson was a two-time Dan Hodge Trophy winner, a two-time NCAA Division I national champion, and a three-time All-American out of the University of Minnesota.[7]
After a brief appearance at WWE SummerSlam in 2021, Steveson was signed by the promotion in September.[8]
Early life
Steveson was born in Portage, Indiana, where he started wrestling as soon as he could walk, following his two older brother's footsteps.[9] His name Gable Dan was given by his mother after legendary wrestler Dan Gable.[10] He has an older brother, Bobby, who is currently signed to WWE as Damon Kemp.[11][12]
After winning multiple youth-level national tournaments, the Steveson family moved to
After that season, Steveson racked up four state titles and a 171 match win-streak, with his last two state tournament championship matches lasting a combined 28 seconds. For his 2017 performance, he received the Junior Schalles Award for best high school pinner.[14] The next year, he was named the Junior Hodge Trophy winner.[15] In freestyle, Steveson claimed multiple age-group World Championships.[16] The top-recruit in the country, he chose to remain local and attend the University of Minnesota.[17]
Collegiate and freestyle wrestling career
2018–2019
Steveson, a high school senior, placed fourth at the 2018 US Open Nationals and the US World Team Trials in April and May respectively, beating the likes of
A recently crowned All-American, Steveson returned to freestyle in May 2019 and became a Final X contestant when he ran through the US World Team Trials Challenge, dismantling 2018 Greco-Roman World finalist Adam Coon, two-time NCAA National champion Tony Nelson, two-time All-American Dom Bradley, and two-time All-American Nick Nevills.[25] However, he lost to two-time World Medalist Nick Gwiazdowski twice by criteria and was unable to make the US World Team.[26]
Steveson then made his international senior debut at the Alexander Medved Prizes in August 2019, where he placed second to
2019–2020
Return
After his suspension was pulled and wrestling back to folkstyle, Steveson compiled 12 wins and no losses in duals during regular season,
Steveson was slated to compete at the
After ten months out of freestyle competition, Steveson wrestled Trent Hillger at the annual Beat The Streets event on September 17, 2020, showing massive skill improvements and winning by technical fall in the first period.[39]
In October 2020, the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to winter athletes due to the last season being cut short, this led to Steveson getting an extra year of eligibility.[40]
Steveson represented the Gopher WC at 125 kilograms in the FloWrestling: RTC Cup from December 4 to 5, 2020, alongside graduated Gopher Tony Nelson.[41] After siting out in the dual against the Cliff Keen WC, Steveson faced the heavily accomplished Nick Gwiazdowski from the Wolfpack RTC in an anticipated rematch. He edged the two-time Pan American champion with a score of 4 to 1 points.[42] He then tech'd Jordan Wood to defeat him for the sixth time in freestyle competition and place sixth as a team.[43]
2020–2021
Competing as a junior during the regular season, he compiled a 9–0 record with a 100 percent bonus rate.[44] During the postseason, he continued his dominance, making his third consecutive Big Ten Championship final and winning his second title, dominating the second-ranked wrestler in the country and '19 Junior World Champion Mason Parris en route to a major decision.[45] At the NCAAs, Steveson compiled two bonus points victories en route to the quarterfinals, where he faced '17 Cadet World Champion from Penn State Greg Kerkvliet, whom he was able to shut down but fell short of bonus points. Later, he major'd the fourth seed from Iowa Tony Cassioppi for the second time in the season and advanced to the finals, where he once again shut down Mason Parris to claim the NCAA National Championship.[46] After the season, the dominant Steveson was awarded the prestigious Dan Hodge Trophy as the best college wrestler of the season, along with Spencer Lee from Iowa.[47]
The newly crowned
On August 5, Steveson competed at the first date of the men's freestyle 125 kg event, where he outscored his three high-level opponents with a combined perfect score of 23–0 to secure himself a medal and advance to the finals, demolishing '15 Asian Champion Aiaal Lazarev from Kyrgyzstan, defending Olympic champion and multiple-time World Champion Taha Akgül from Turkey and '19 U23 World medalist Mönkhtöriin Lkhagvagerel from Mongolia.[53] After stunning the field on his way to the finale, he faced three-time and reigning World Champion Geno Petriashvili from Georgia.[53] Onto the second period, Steveson was up 4–0 with two takedowns, though the Georgian scored two points of his own to Steveson's one to make it 5–2, before truly turning the tables and scoring a takedown and two gut-wrenches for six points (5–8) with a minute and a half left.[54] With ten seconds left, Steveson scored a takedown to make it 7–8, and still trailing behind by a point, he rallied and got another takedown with half a second left to top the World Champion with a 9–8 score.[55] After a failed challenge by Petriashvili's corner, Steveson earned the 2020 Summer Olympic Games gold medal with a hard-fought 10–8 score over the Georgian.[56] With this new championship, Steveson became the first American super-heavyweight to win freestyle Olympic gold since Bruce Baumgartner in 1992.[57][58] With his win, Gable Steveson became the youngest freestyle wrestler to win Olympic gold at super heavyweight (125 kg) at the age of 21 years, two months and six days.[59]
As an Olympic medalist, Steveson earned the right to automatically represent the United States at the 2021 World Championships without having to compete domestically to make the US World Team.[60] On August 15, 2021, Steveson notified USA Wrestling that he would reject the bid in order to pursue other ventures.[61]
2021–2023
In September 2021, it was announced that despite Steveson signing with
At the
Steveson went out as one of the greatest and most dominant collegiate wrestlers in the history of the sport, as a Dan Hodge Trophy winner, two-time NCAA Division I National champion and three-time Big Ten Conference champion.[70] He is the first and only heavyweight wrestler to win the Dan Hodge Trophy multiple times.[71]
Steveson returned to freestyle competition at the 2023 US Open Wrestling Championships, since last wrestling at the Tokyo Olympics. He won the tournament, dominating the competition, going 44–1 against his opponents.[72] He was also named the outstanding wrestler of the tournament.[73] He won the 2023 Final X, earning the right to represent the United States at the 2023 World Wrestling Championships.[74] He later decided not to compete in the competition.[75][76]
Professional wrestling career
In late 2020, Steveson said pursuing a career in WWE as a
Steveson then made a brief appearance at WWE's SummerSlam event on August 21, 2021,[80] and then on September 4, it was announced that Steveson had reportedly signed a contract with WWE.[81] Five days later, WWE confirmed they had signed Steveson to an NIL (Next In Line) deal. Steveson is only the second Olympic gold medalist to be signed by the company after Kurt Angle.[82] During a July 2022 interview, former WWE star Mr. Kennedy confirmed he is training Steveson.
As part of the
Steveson made his return on January 5, 2024, defeating
Controversies
Sexual assault allegations
On June 15, 2019, Steveson and a Minnesota teammate were arrested on suspicion of criminal sexual misconduct, and were subsequently suspended from all team activities.[89] In December, it was determined that they would not face criminal charges due to a lack of adequate evidence. When explaining the decision not to pursue charges, the county attorney also pointed to a lack of a law in Minnesota that would broaden discretion in charging sexual assaults against intoxicated victims.[90]
Freestyle record
NCAA record
Stats
References
- ^ "Biography - Gable Steveson, MN". USA Wrestling.
- ^ a b "International Wrestling Database".
- ^ "Brandon Eggum - Wrestling Coach".
- ^ "Gophers heavyweight Gable Steveson moving up in Olympic pecking order". Star Tribune. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
- ^ Metcalfe, Jeff. "US wrestling heavyweight Gable Steveson takes gold at Tokyo Olympics in stunning last-second victory". USA TODAY. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
- ^ "'Refreshed' Gable Steveson seeking spot at world championships". Star Tribune. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
- ^ "Gable Steveson - Wrestling". University of Minnesota Athletics. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
- ^ "WWE signs Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson to exclusive agreement". WWE. Retrieved February 3, 2024.
- ^ a b [email protected], (219) 933-3371, John. "Tough times don't stop the Steveson brothers". nwitimes.com. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
{{cite web}}
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- Sportskeeda. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
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- ^ "Gable Steveson qualifies for Olympic Trials but is still suspended from Gophers wrestling". Star Tribune. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
- ^ Goodwin, Cody. "USA Wrestling announces that 2020 Olympic Trials are postponed". Des Moines Register. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
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- ^ "RTC Cup Lineups | Virginia Tech Wrestling Board". Virginia Tech Wrestling Board. November 18, 2020.
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- ^ Kennedy, Matthew. "Gable Steveson wins second Big Ten title for Gophers wrestling". The Minnesota Daily. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
- ^ "Gophers' heavyweight Gable Steveson dominates his way to NCAA title". Star Tribune. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
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- ^ "Gophers' Gable Steveson shares Hodge Trophy with Iowa's Spencer Lee". Star Tribune. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
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{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Minnesota's Steveson, Wisconsin's Rettke Named Big Ten Athletes of the Year". bigten.org. April 5, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
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{{cite web}}
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External links
- Gable Steveson at the International Wrestling Database
- Gable Steveson at the International Wrestling Database
- Gable Steveson at Olympedia
- Gable Steveson at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (archived)
- Gable Steveson's profile at Cagematch.net, Wrestlingdata.com, Internet Wrestling Database