TOKYO—The question was meant to be about the past, not the future. After Gable Steveson reached the gold-medal match at the Tokyo Olympics, a reporter asked him if he could remember the first day he knew he would be the best heavyweight wrestler in the world.
Steveson couldn’t resist a chance to make another prediction. “Tomorrow,” he said, with a sly grin.
Friday, Steveson proved it to everyone else. The Gophers wrestler from Apple Valley defeated the man who has been best in the world for three years—Geno Petriashvili of Georgia—10-8 at Makuhari Messe to claim the gold. Steveson, of Apple Valley, became the first Gophers wrestler to win an Olympic gold medal.
The medal was the first in Olympic competition for a Gophers wrestler since 2000, when Garrett Lowney won bronze in the Greco-Roman 97 kg class at the Sydney Games.
Steveson, 21, promised to put on a show in Tokyo, and he delivered. He picked up his first point when Petriashvili was put on the clock—and failed to score—after two warnings for passivity. He added a takedown and a pushout to lead 4-0 after the first period.
Petriashvili, who has won the past three world championships, became the first wrestler to score a point on Steveson at the Olympics when he picked up two points on an exposure early in the second period. Steveson added a point on a reversal for a 5-2 margin.
But Petriashvili turned the tables, scoring six consecutive points to take an 8-5 lead. Steveson scored a takedown as time expired for the come-from-behind victory. Petriashvili challenged the call, saying time had expired, but the points were upheld.
Kyle Dake also won a medal for the U.S. on Friday, taking bronze in the men’s freestyle 74-kilogram class.
At the Olympics, Steveson is using his full name: Gable Dan Steveson. Named after Dan Gable, the 1972 Olympic champion in the freestyle 68 kg class, he has embraced the comparisons to the legendary coach and athlete. “It might have been destiny to reach this spot,” Steveson said Thursday.
Steveson did his best to replicate Dan Gable’s feat of sweeping through the Summer Games without surrendering a point. He did not allow any opponent to score on him in his first three matches. He outscored his opponents 23-0 in Thursday’s first round, quarterfinals and semifinals, including an 8-0 quarterfinal victory over 2016 Olympic gold medalist Taha Akgul of Turkey.
The gold medal gave Steveson the biggest prize of all in a year full of them. He won his first NCAA title in March and was co-winner of the Hodge Trophy as the best college wrestler in the country. Steveson went 17-0 for the Gophers last season and currently holds a 34-match win streak.