Seth Duckworth
UCO has announced their 2021 athletic Hall of Fame inductees and Mike Keim
and the 1989 NAIA National Championship team will be inducted on October 1st at their Hall of Fame Banquet.
From the release
Keim wrestled his way to an amazing career at UCO in finishing as a
two-time national finalist with one title while helping lead the Bronchos to a
pair of team titles.
A native of Owasso, Okla., Keim spent two years in junior college before
coming to UCO and stepped in as a junior at 134 pounds in 1992-93. He captured
the Midwest Regional title and advanced to the national finals before suffering
his only Division II loss in setting for runner-up honors while helping the
Bronchos win their second straight team title.
Keim redshirted at his own request the following year as Ryan Martin took
over the starting role at 134 and went on to win the national championship.
Keim still took Outstanding Wrestler honors at both the Central Missouri and
Nebraska-Omaha opens while competing unattached.
Keim returned to the mat with a vengeance in 1994-95 in putting together
one of the best seasons in school history and leading UCO to its fourth
consecutive team championship. He won six tournament tiles and set a single-season
school record that still exists with 47 wins in going 47-3 with 24 bonus-point
wins, capping it by winning a second Midwest Regional crown and the national
championship.
Keim ended his career with a 33-match winning streak. He went 35-1 against Division
II opponents during his career, including a 21-0 mark with 16 bonus-point wins
as a senior, and had a 72-11 career record at UCO for an 86.7 winning
percentage that is sixth-best in school history.
On the ’89 championship team.
The 1988-89 Central wrestling squad posted the eighth and final NAIA national team championship for the Bronchos, with the team posting a combined 296 wins during the season.
Shawn Fleming and Johnny Nimmo both won national titles individually while Jeff Gowens and Marc Hull both registered national runner-up performances. Tony Pacheco, Greg Oplotnik and Howard Moore also earned All-American honors to give Central seven total and enough points to claim the national title.
CSU scored 105 team points at the national championships in Jamestown, N.D., outpacing the runners-up by 13 points.
Central finished fourth at the Southern California Invitational earlier in the season, with Fleming earning an individual trophy there, and the Bronchos took first at the Southwest Missouri Invitational with Fleming, Gowens, Hull, Nimmo and Oplotnik all earning titles there. The Bronchos also competed in four other non-team scoring tournaments and compiled an impressive 22 top-five finishes at those events.
