Legends By The National Wrestling Hall Of Fame | Chronicling The History And Legacy Of Wrestling's All-time Greats

He packed more wrestling success into five years than most athletes manage in a lifetime of competition. Keith Young spent the next three decades returning those rewards to the sport with full interest. His Algona High School team didn't offer wrestling until his senior year, and when he joined the University of Northern Iowa you'd hardly expect a youngster of such limited experience to fill the shoes of one of wrestling's all-time greats, Bill Koll. But fill them he did, winning six national championships in three seasons. Undefeated in collegiate competition, he was NCAA champion at 145 pounds in 1949, '50 and '51, leading the Panthers of coach Dave McCuskey to the team title during his junior year. Young's three collegiate crowns matched Koll's total as Northern Iowa reigned supreme in the welterweight division six years in a row. The same three years, Young was National AAU champ -outstanding wrestler in '50 -and each year the Panthers captured the AAU team trophy. Rather than pursue post-graduate com