High School Career
Although Gable was not permitted to wrestle on the varsity wrestling squad during his freshman year, he was an undefeated state champion during his sophomore through senior years. The only recorded high school loss suffered by Gable was during his freshman year when he lost an unofficial match to teammate, Michael DePaschalis.
As a sophomore in high school, Gable experienced a personal tragedy. His older sister, Diane, was brutally raped and murdered May 31, 1964, in the Gable family home, while Dan and his parents were on vacation. Diane Gable's killer, John Thomas Kyle (a classmate of Dan Gable's), pled guilty to charges in connection with her death and was sentenced to life in prison. Kyle died in a Kansas state penitentiary on June 17, 2011; Gable was in northeast Iowa—the same area where he was vacationing when his sister was killed—when he learned of Kyle's death. Gable later recalled that the event gave him a singular passion for wrestling as a way to uplift his shattered family. In his documentary Gable, he said, "I needed to give them enough entertainment that they didn't have to look other places."
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