Gabe Dean

Gabe Dean

Dean in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Gabriel Curtis Dean
Born	(1994-06-19) June 19, 1994 (age 30) Lowell, Michigan, U.S.
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight	86 kg (190 lb)
Sport
Country	United States
Sport	Wrestling
Event(s)	Freestyle, Greco-Roman, and Folkstyle
College team	Cornell
Club	Spartan Combat RTC
Coached by	Rob Koll
Medal record Men's freestyle wrestling Representing the   United States Pan American Championships 2017 Lauro de Freitas 86 kg US National Championships 2020 Coralville (SN) 86 kg Junior World Championships 2014 Zagreb 84 kg Greco-Roman wrestling Representing   United States Pan American Championships 2015 Santiago 85 kg Collegiate Wrestling Representing the Cornell Big Red NCAA Division I Championships 2015 St. Louis 184 lb 2016 New York 184 lb 2017 St. Louis 184 lb 2014 Oklahoma City 184 lb EIWA Championships 2014 Philadelphia 184 lb 2015 Bethlehem 184 lb 2016 Princeton 184 lb 2017 Lewisburg 184 lb

Gabriel Curtis Dean (born June 19, 1994) is an American retired freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler who formerly competed at 86 kilograms. ^[1] In freestyle, he was the 2020 US National Champion, a '17 Pan American Championship medalist, and a '14 Junior World Championship medalist. ^{[2] [3] [4]} He was also the '15 Pan American Championship runner–up in Greco-Roman. ^[5] As a collegiate wrestler, Dean was a two–time NCAA Division I champion, a four–time EIWA Conference champion, and a four–time NCAA Division I All-American for the Cornell Big Red. ^[6]

Folkstyle career

High school

Dean was born in Lowell, Michigan, where he went on to attend Lowell High School. His father David was an NCAA Division I National runner-up out of the University of Minnesota, which led to Gabriel's early start in the sport of wrestling. During his high school years, Dean was a standout wrestler and football player, and as a quarterback, he led his team to a state title and runner–up finishes and was a two–time All-State player. ^[7] In wrestling, he went on to make the finals of the MHSAA state tournament, winning the title in an undefeated run as a junior and ending his senior year as the runner–up. ^[8]

College

Dean chose to attend the Cornell University and wrestle there. ^[9] During his four years of collegiate wrestling, Dean went on to become one of the most decorated athletes in the history of the team, claiming two NCAA titles and four EIWA conference titles, as well as racking up four All-American honors and a runner–up finish as a senior, where he lost to eventual three–timer Bo Nickal from Penn State in a legendarily close match. In regards to honors, Dean was a two–time EIWA and Ivy League Wrestler of the Year, as well as the Rookie of the Year as a freshman. ^[10]

International career

2013–2017

Dean, who was graduating high school, made his senior freestyle debut in May 2013, when he went on to place third at the Northeastern Regionals and sixth at the US University Nationals. At the 2015 Pan American Championships, Dean made his Greco-Roman debut with no previous training in the discipline, and went on to place second. In April 2017, Dean decided to wrestle at the US Open in freestyle, and went on to place sixth. Afterwards, he placed third at the Pan American Championships, with technical falls over former Olympian from Colombia Carlos Izquierdo and South American Games runner–up from Peru Pool Ambrocio. Dean then announced he would try his hand as a Greco–Roman wrestler, but after competing and losing in his first match at the 2017 US U23 World Team Trials, he decided to retire.

2020–2021

In October 2020, Dean opted to come out of retirement to compete at the US Nationals, where he claimed the title after defeating former All-American Nate Jackson in the finals. ^[11] Next, he competed at the Flo 8-Man Challenge: 195 lbs, where he lost in the first match to Taylor Lujan (whom he had tech'd weeks earlier) after dominating prior to a pin. ^{[12] [13]} Dean then confirmed he would take a run for the US Olympic Team Trials. ^[14] In November, Dean wrestled World Champion David Taylor at the NLWC III and went to a fairly close decision loss. ^[15]

To start off the 2021 year, he earned the biggest win of his career when he defeated U23 World Champion Bo Nickal at the NLWC III, while also earning revenge from the '17 NCAA's, before being tech'd by three–time World and Olympic champion at 97 kg Kyle Snyder. ^[16] On March, he earned a spot at the US Olympic Team Trials when he won the US Last Chance Olympic Trials Qualifier as the top–seed, defeating Nate Jackson and NCAA champion Drew Foster in the process. ^[17] At the US Olympic Team Trials, Dean defeated former NCAA champion Myles Martin before being downed himself by David Taylor in a rematch, failing to make the team. ^[18] After his last run, Dean returned to retirement from competition. ^[19]

Freestyle record

Senior Freestyle Matches
Res.	Record	Opponent	Score	Date	Event	Location
2020 US Olympic Team Trials DNP at 86 kg
Loss	27–11	David Taylor	0–4	April 2, 2021	2020 US Olympic Team Trials	Fort Worth, Texas
Win	27–10	Myles Martin	2–1
2020 US Last Chance OTT at 86 kg
Win	26–10	Nate Jackson	7–2	March 27, 2021	2020 US Last Chance Olympic Team Trials Qualifier	Fort Worth, Texas
Win	25–10	Drew Foster	8–0
Win	24–10	C.J. Brucki	TF 12–2
Win	23–10	Jonathan Loew	FF
Win	22–10	Jake Hendricks	TF 10–0
Loss	21–10	Kyle Snyder	TF 2–13	February 23, 2021	NLWC V	State College, Pennsylvania
Win	21–9	Bo Nickal	3–2
Loss	20–9	David Taylor	2–6	November 24, 2020	NLWC III
2020 US Nationals at 86 kg
Win	20–8	Nate Jackson	1–1	October 10–11, 2020	2020 US Senior Nationals	Coralville, Iowa
Win	19–8	Trent Hidlay	2–1
Win	18–8	Taylor Lujan	TF 10–0
Win	17–8	Nathan Haas	Fall
Win	16–8	Leonardo Tarantino	TF 12–1
Flo 8-Man Challenge DNP at 195 lbs
Loss	15–8	Taylor Lujan	Fall	October 31, 2020	FloWrestling 8-Man Challenge	Austin, Texas
2017 Pan American Championships at 86 kg
Win	15–7	Pool Ambrocio	TF 12–2	May 5–7, 2017	2017 Pan American Wrestling Championships	Lauro de Freitas, Brazil
Loss	14–7	Yurieski Torreblanca	4–6
Win	14–6	Carlos Izquierdo	TF 11–0
2017 US Open 6th at 86 kg
Win	13–6	TJ Dudley	8–8	April 26–29, 2017	2017 US Open National Championships	Las Vegas, Nevada
Loss	12–6	Pat Downey	6–7
Win	12–5	Austin Trotman	13–10
Loss	11–5	Nick Heflin	3–6
Win	11–4	Kyle Crutchmer	TF 15–4
Win	10–4	John Rizqallah	TF 10–0
2013 US University Nationals 6th at 84 kg
Loss	9–4	Alex Meyer	5–6	May 23–26, 2013	2013 ASICS US University National Championships	Akron, Ohio
Loss	9–3	Max Thomusseit	1–3
Win	9–2	Nathaniel Brown	INJ
Win	8–2	Kyle Crutchmer	TF 11–1
Win	7–2	James Mannier	TF 10–0
Win	6–2	Kris Klapprodt	14–8
Loss	5–2	Kenneth Courts	Fall
Win	5–1	Derek Thomas	TF 12–2
Win	4–1	Brian Engdahl	TF 11–0
2013 NE Regionals at 84 kg
Win	3-1	Scott Gibbons	3–0, 5–2	May 3–5, 2013	2013 NE Regional Championships	East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
Win	2–1	Tyler Wood	6–0, 5–0
Loss	1–1	Enock Francois	0–2, 0–1
Win	1–0	Andrew Detwiler	Fall

Greco-Roman record

Senior Greco-Roman Matches
Res.	Record	Opponent	Score	Date	Event	Location
2017 US U23 World Team Trials at 85 kg
Loss	2–2	Spencer Wilson	TF 2–10	October 7, 2017	2017 US U23 World Team Trials	Rochester, Minnesota
2015 Pan American Championships at 85 kg
Loss	2–1	Gilberto Piquet Herrera	0–4	April 24–26, 2015	2015 Pan American Championships	Santiago, Chile
Win	2–0	Luis Betancourt	INJ
Win	1–0	Querys Pérez	6–1

NCAA record

NCAA Championships Matches
Res.	Record	Opponent	Score	Date	Event
2017 NCAA Championships at 184 lbs
Loss	19–2	Bo Nickal	3–4	March 16–18, 2017	2017 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
Win	19–1	Nolan Boyd	9–3
Win	18–1	Jack Dechow	TB–1 4–3
Win	17–1	Jordan Ellingwood	MD 11–3
Win	16–1	Michael Coleman	MD 21–12
2016 NCAA Championships at 184 lbs
Win	15–1	Timothy Dudley	5–3	March 17–19, 2016	2016 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
Win	14–1	Pete Renda	9–4
Win	13–1	Nolan Boyd	10–4
Win	12–1	Thomas Sleigh	Fall
Win	11–1	Jack Dechow	3–1
2015 NCAA Championships at 184 lbs
Win	10–1	Nathaniel Brown	6–2	March 19–21, 2015	2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
Win	9–1	Victor Avery	TB–2 4–3
Win	8–1	Sammy Brooks	3–2
Win	7–1	Timothy Dudley	9–8
Win	6–1	Patrick Kissell	MD 10–1
2014 NCAA Championships at 184 lbs
Win	5–1	Jack Dechow	5–4	March 20–22, 2014	2014 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
Win	4–1	Lawrence Thomas	Fall
Loss	3–1	Ed Ruth	3–5
Win	3–0	Jacob Swartz	11–4
Win	2–0	John Rizqallah	11–4
Win	1–0	Lelund Weatherspoon	MD 12–4

References

1. "Gabe Dean". Fanatic Wrestling. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
2. "Wrestling's Vito Arujau and Gabe Dean win U.S. Senior National Titles". Cornell University Athletics. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
3. BV (May 7, 2017). "Gabe Dean Wins Bronze at Pan American Championships". New York Wrestling News. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
4. "Dean Takes Third At FILA Junior World Championships In Croatia". Cornell University Athletics. August 26, 2014. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
5. Ruckdashel, Abbie (June 28, 2017). "Crossing Over: Gabe Dean On Why He's Choosing Greco". Five Point Move. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
6. "Gabe Dean - 2016-17 - Wrestling". Cornell University Athletics. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
7. Samuels, Doug (March 23, 2016). "Cornell wrestler Gabe Dean, a 2-time national champ, reads a moving letter that all athletes need to hear". FootballScoop. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
8. Press, Jeff Chaney | The Grand Rapids (October 25, 2011). "Lowell senior Gabe Dean picks Cornell for wrestling". mlive. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
9. Press, Jeff Chaney | The Grand Rapids (October 25, 2011). "Lowell senior Gabe Dean picks Cornell for wrestling". mlive. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
10. "Gabe Dean - 2016-17 - Wrestling". Cornell University Athletics. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
11. "Wrestling's Vito Arujau and Gabe Dean win U.S. Senior National Titles". Cornell University Athletics. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
12. "Cornell wrestling legend Gabe Dean ready for 8-man tourney". WETM - MyTwinTiers.com. October 28, 2020. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
13. "Martin dominant in winning Flo 8-Man Challenge at 195 pounds". InterMat. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
14. "Gabe Dean on Olympic Run and Seth Gross on Duals, Events | Podcast Episodes | Baschamania". www.baschamania.com. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
15. PennLive, Jim Carlson | Special to (November 25, 2020). "Taylor, Retherford, Lee brothers and Starocci among winners at Nittany Lion Wrestling Club event". pennlive. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
16. PennLive, Jim Carlson | Special to (February 24, 2021). "Kyle Snyder wins 3 bouts, Kyle Dake beats 2 former Penn State stars in Nittany Lion Wrestling Club event". pennlive. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
17. "12 men's freestyle athletes earn bids to Olympic Team Trials". Team USA. March 27, 2021. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021.
18. "Lion vs. Lion: David Taylor tops Bo Nickal for U.S. Olympic Team spot". 247Sports. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
19. Miller, Christopher (May 11, 2021). "Max Dean is Heading to Happy Valley". The Open Mat. Retrieved June 7, 2021.