THE MIDLANDS MAN
Joe Williams' 10th & final title puts him among elite
The legendary Dan Gable has not had to take a back seat to too many wrestlers in his lifetime.
Except when it comes to Joe Williams and the Midlands.
"He kind of replaced me. That"s how tough he is," said Gable shortly after Williams capped off an outstanding Midlands career by winning his record tenth consecutive Midlands title " this one at 174 pounds " Dec. 30, in Evanston, Ill.
"He is synonymous with the tournament," said Gable who saw Williams win the first four of those titles for Gable and Iowa between 1994 and 1997. "If you think about it, this tournament goes back a long time. It"s the history of our sport, one of the most prestigious tournaments that we wrestle in American. By winning 10 times, it kind of separates him from a lot of people."
Gable, who won NCAA and Olympic gold as a competitor before winning 15 NCAA team championships as Iowa"s coach, also won six Midlands titles as a wrestler in his career.
"It means a lot when you have guys like Gable who is there pushing you to go on," said Williams, who added that he has never entered another tournament " much less win it " ten times. "Records were meant to be broken. It feels good to have accomplished it."
Williams, a native of nearby Harvey, Ill., actually set the Midlands record for most individual championships in 2002 when his ninth championship broke the record of eight held by Bruce Baumgartner. Williams also moved past Baumgartner for consecutive wins last season and extended his winning streak to 51 after he defeated Iowa"s Tyler Nixt in the championship match for a second straight year.
Williams, an assistant coach at Iowa who trains Nixt in the Hawkeye wrestling room, admitted it was strange to wrestle someone that he coaches to win.
"It is when you work out with him day in and day out," Williams said. "You work on some of the flaws and some of the good things that they do. I know the ride back (to Iowa City) will be tough. I think I can help him a lot more from actually wrestling him and telling him what things I think he needs to work on."
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