Kenny Nelson began wrestling at the age of nine for the Country Estates Elementary in Midwest City. After helping lead Midwest City High School to the 1974 state championship, Nelson wrestled for the University of Oklahoma where he immediately impacted the Sooners, winning the 1975 Big Eight championship. He earned All-America honors twice finishing third in the NCAA tournament at 126 pounds in both 1976 and 1978. After college, he coached Okarche and Tonkawa to winning records before returning to his Midwest City alma mater to coach. He led the Bombers to six state championships and two dual state championships. Individual wrestlers won 27 state titles under his tutelage. He was named high school coach-of- the-year six times, national coach-of-the-year two times, and was named to the Midwest City High School Wall of Fame and to the Midwest City Hall of Fame. Twice his teams were ranked the No. 1 team in the nation. Nelson served a five-year term with the NCAA National Executive Committee.