By Kyle Klingman, W.I.N. Writer

Keith Gavin considers his wrestling career a work in progress. And if the progress continues, nobody should be surprised if Keith Gavin makes an Olympic team.

            While wrestling for Lackawanna High School in Factoryville, Pa., Gavin never won a state title. In fact, he never even reached the state finals.

            Gavin made the state tournament twice, placing seventh as a junior and third as a senior. Never a big-name recruit, Gavin began his career at Pittsburgh with an 0-5 record.

            “Keith was one of those kids coming out of high school that wasn’t a big recruit,” said Pittsburgh head coach Rande Stottlemyer. “But there was something we really liked about the kid. He had some real good qualities.

            “He was a 145 pounder and he was really tall. We thought he could get bigger. And if you think about it, I’ll use Cael Sanderson as an example, he learned how to wrestle when he was little and then got big.

            “The skill level is not the same when you move up in weight. If you have great skills when you get there and then you put on the muscle and the athleticism is still the same, you’re hard to beat.”

            This year, Gavin was impossible to beat. And it was the Pittsburgh senior who was the only NCAA champion to remain undefeated by season’s end. In the process, Gavin became the 11th wrestler from Pittsburgh to win an NCAA title and the first wrestler from his school to go undefeated since Pat Santoro accomplished the feat in 1988 with a 48-0 record.

            Gavin capped a 27-0 season with a victory over Michigan’s Steve Luke in the 174-pound finals.

            From the beginning of the 2008 tournament, Gavin executed his strategy to perfection. With the exception of a 17-3 win in the first round, all of Gavin’s matches were won by three points or less. His victory over Luke marked the only time a match between the two did not go into overtime.

            “I felt great,” said Gavin. “Steve Luke is probably one of the best athletes I’ve ever wrestled. He’s so explosive. So I knew I just needed to get one takedown and stop his first move on bottom. I felt like I could ride him. I executed my game plan, so that felt good.”

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