Cliff Keen

Clifford Patrick Keen (June 13, 1901 – November 4, 1991) was an American coach who served as the head coach of the University of Michigan collegiate wrestling team from 1925 to 1970. He led the Michigan Wolverines to 13 Big Ten Conference championships, and coached 68 All-American wrestlers. In 1976, he was one of the initial inductees into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Keen was born on a ranch at Red Moon in Roger Mills County, Oklahoma, near the town of Cheyenne. His high school in Weatherford, OK had no wrestling team; one of his high school classmates was Arnold "Swede" Umbach. He was playing basketball one day when a wrestler asked him if he could help as a partner so he could practice his moves; after Keen was whipped by the much smaller man, he decided to go out for the team. He got his start in wrestling as a middleweight at Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State University–Stillwater), where he became a three time Missouri Valley Conference Champion. He was undefeated as a collegiate wrestler at 158 lbs., but was defeated by Leon Gorman of Texas at 175 lbs. when Gallagher asked him to wrestle a second bout in a dual meet after winning his previous bout. At that time, there was no scoring, wrestlers won bouts on riding time or by pin; each of the three periods wrestled was 7 minutes per period, and some bouts went 30 minutes. His wrestling coach at Oklahoma A&M was Edward C. Gallagher. Keen was also a lineman for the Oklahoma A&M football team coached by Michigan All-American John Maulbetsch and a sprinter on the track team also coached by Gallagher. He was named to the 1924 Olympic team but did not compete because of a broken rib, but defeated two men on the team Guy Lookabaugh and Orion Stuteville. Keen graduated from Oklahoma A&M in 1924 with a major in salesmanship; he also was business manager of "The Orange and Black, " the school newspaper where he met sports editor, Jess Hoke. His brother, Paul, was also on the football team, and was captain of the basketball team; however, he also learned wrestling from Gallagher and coached at Warner, Yale, and Geary High Schools. Gallagher initiated the Oklahoma State High School Wrestling Championships in 1922. Keen met his wife, Mildred, at Oklahoma A&M.

...
Wikipedia