An outstanding collegiate athlete in almost every sport except wrestling, Paul Keen was handed a staggering assignment when he joined the coaching staff at the University of Oklahoma. All he had to do was build the fledgling Sooner mat program to a competitive level with the awesome power of his old school, Oklahoma State.

There he had starred in football, basketball and track. He learned the fundamentals of wrestling by working out with the teams of coach Edward C. Gallagher. When he was a senior, he could have wrestled on the varsity, but he had been elected basketball captain and chose to fulfill that obligation.

His 12-year coaching career at Oklahoma is marked by two historic milestones. In 1932, after four years at the Sooner helm, he led his team to an upset of Gallagher's Aggies in Stillwater, shattering a winning streak that had spanned 70 dual meets and 10 undefeated seasons.

Four years later, in 1936, he guided Oklahoma to the National Collegiate championship, OU's first national title in any sport. Keen's Sooners also finished second twice and third twice in NCAA tournaments and captured 12 individual championships. His wrestlers won six titles in the Big Eight Conference and never placed below third.

Another milestone of his coaching career collapsed in the fires of World War II. He was destined to become the 1940 Olympic wrestling coach, but the Olympic torch was snuffed out by the worldwide holocaust.

Throughout his coaching tenure, Keen recruited and taught without the aid of a single scholarship grant. To further the development of young wrestlers, he joined with Coach Gallagher to establish a strong high school wrestling program in Oklahoma.

For his role as a pioneer wrestling coach and a builder of stalwart young athletes, Paul V. Keen is honored as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.