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Gabe Dean

Gabe Dean

Gabriel Curtis Dean, commonly known as Gabe Dean, is a two-time NCAA wrestling champion for the Cornell University, achievements to which he added 5 New York state titles, setting the record at the time for the winningest wrestler in Big Red history. After his collegiate career ended, Gabe opted to pursue a spot in Team USA's Greco-Roman wrestling squad while joining the Cornell coaching staff.

Gabe Dean Wrestling

MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS

High School:
- 1st Place MHSAA Championship (2012)
- 2nd Place MHSAA Championship (2013)

College:
- NCAA D1 All-American (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017)
- 1st Place NCAA D1 Championship (2015, 2016)
- 1st Place EIWA Championship (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017)
- 1st Place NY State Championship (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017)
- EIWA Wrestler of the Year (2015, 2017)
- EIWA Coaches Trophy (2015, 2017)
- EIWA Sheridan Award (2016)
- EIWA Rookie of the Year (2014)
- Ivy League Wrestler of the Year (2015, 2017)
- Ivy League Rookie of the Year (2014)
- First-Team All-Ivy League (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017)
- New York State Wrestler of the Year (2015)
- New York State Freshman of the Year (2014)

Freestyle:
- 3rd Place UWW Pan American Championships (2017)
- 7th Place US Open (2017)

Greco-Roman:
- 2nd Place UWW Pan American Championships (2015)

Weight:
- 184 lbs (collegiate)
- 86 kg (senior)

Teams:
- Lowell High School
- Cornell University (Big Red)

Gabe Dean Biography

Gabriel Curtis Dean was born in 1994, in rural Eastern Michigan where he spent the first few years of his life, being the son of David and Bethany Dean.

Although the son of a former NCAA Division 1 runner-up and 2x Big 10 champion, Gabe was never pressed to wrestle by his father, aside from showing Dean and his brothers a few moves in a family environment. As such, the interest for the mat developed naturally, with Dean entering his first wrestling tournament at the age of 9, one that did not end well for the future Cornell star, as described by Dean to the Cornell Daily Sun on February 2017:

"I got head-locked and pinned by a girl," he said. "I acted like I was paralyzed on the mat because I was so distraught."

When Dean was around 11 years old, during sixth grade, his family moved west, to Lowell, a town of about 4,000 residents. Son after, Gabe's father left his job at Michigan State to spend more time with the family, then taking a vacancy at Lowell High School as the head wrestling coach, where Gabe's uncle already worked as the head football coach.

Once Dean joined Lowell HS, he started playing for the football and the wrestling teams, achieving great success in both - though his personal preference leaned towards football.

His fondness for the green pitch led Gabe to attend a scouting combine at Georgia Tech during the summer before his senior year. Unfortunately for Dean, the experience was disheartening as he was deemed as too small to play Division 1 as a quarterback - Dean's position. After such a devastating blow to his sporting aspirations, Gabe decided to give collegiate wrestling a shot.

Although more passionate about football up to that point, Dean received more attention as a wrestler, being recruited by Michigan State, Minnesota, and Cornell University in Ithaca, New York - one of the country's top wrestling programs. Gabe chose Cornell.

After his senior year, and although committed to Cornell, Dean deferred his admission in the program for 12 months. Instead, Gabe decided to take classes at a community college, a practice called "grey shirting". As such, he was not allowed to train at Cornell, opting to train at the Olympic training center, where he was aided by former Cornell wrestler Cam Simaz.

Once he did join Cornell, Gabe Dean quickly became one of the most successful wrestlers ever produced by the Big Red program, earning 2 NCAA titles and 4 All-American honors.

After he finished his collegiate career, Dean made an interesting career choice, voicing his intention of pursuing a future in Greco-Roman wrestling, rather than freestyle, the more common option for retired folkstyle athletes. While carrying out this plan, Dean also joined the Cornell Coaching Staff, in September 2017.

Gabe Dean Underhook to Ankle Pick Tutorial