Butch Steen was born and raised on a farm in South Dakota and attended Brown’s Valley High School in Minnesota after spending his first eight years at a one-room country school. He started wrestling as a 9th grader under Coach Ed Krystaczek, but he only weighed 88 pounds, so it was tough sledding against those full 95-pounders that first year. Butch served as Team Captain his Senior year along with State Champ Irv Kalstrom and Ev Seykora. Butch, Irv, and Ev all went on to coach wrestling in the area and had some great matches among them throughout the years. After High School, Butch enrolled at South Dakota State and went out for wrestling but could not get past Don Miller, who took 3rd at the Division II National Tournament.

Butch started his teaching and coaching career in 1971 in Raymond, Minnesota. In 1993, they joined forces with Clara City and became CCR and in 1998, Maynard came in to form MACCRAY. Steen had the honor of coaching 14 Region Champions, 34 State Qualifiers, and 16 State Place-winners during his tenure.

His teams won 27 tournaments over the years, with 19 wrestlers who won 100 or more matches. Butch Steen has been a solid and supportive member of the MWCA for the past 50 years.

Butch and his wife, Deena, are both retired and reside in Raymond. Butch is proud of his three daughters and two sons (both 100+ match winners), who were standout athletes in High School.