Benjamin Lee "Ben" Peterson (born June 27, 1950) is a retired American freestyle wrestler. He competed at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics and won a gold and a silver medal, respectively. As a college wrestler, Peterson was a two-time NCAA champion at Iowa State. He founded the "Camp of Champs," which brought in Olympic wrestlers to train with high schoolers. Peterson also coached wrestling at Maranatha Baptist University for 28 years.
 Peterson (bottom) at the 1976 Olympics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Benjamin Lee Peterson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | June 27, 1950 Barron County, Wisconsin, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 187 cm (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Freestyle wrestling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Iowa State Wrestling Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early life edit
Peterson was born in Barron County, Wisconsin but grew up on a dairy farm in nearby Comstock. While attending Cumberland High School, Peterson competed in both football and wrestling. As a senior, he finished runner-up at the state wrestling tournament.[1]
College career edit
Peterson continued his wrestling career at Iowa State University where he competed in the 190 pound weight class and studied architecture.[2] Peterson went on to capture three Big Eight championships[3] and back-to-back NCAA titles in 1971[4] and 1972.[5]
Peterson would later be one of the first inductees into the Iowa State Hall of Fame in 1998.[6]
Senior level career and coaching edit
After his prep career came to an end, Peterson continued competing at the international level with great success. At the 1972 Munich Olympics Peterson won gold in the 90 kg division.[7] He followed that up with Bronze at the '73 World Championships in Tehran[8] and Gold at the Mexico City hosted '75 Pan American Games.[9] At the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Peterson would once again return to the podium with Silver in the 90 kg weight class.[10] at the conclusion of the Montreal Olympic games, Peterson would retire from competitive wrestling to focus on coaching.
In 1972 Peterson began his coaching career as head coach at Maranatha Baptist University in Watertown, Wisconsin, a position he would hold for the next 28 years.[11] In 1977 Ben along with his brother John would start the Camp of Champs Wrestling Camps. The camp is a faith-based wrestling skills camp.[12]
Peterson was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member in 2002.[13]
Peterson Roll edit
Ben is often credited with having invented a version of the Granby Roll wrestling move, popularly called the Peterson Roll, but denies having invented the move. He says that he used the move during the widely viewed Olympic Games, which is one reason the move became connected to him.[14]
Olympic game matches edit
References edit
- ^ "Wisconsin Wrestling Hall of Fame :: Peterson, Ben". www.wiwrestlinghofhonorees.org. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
- ^ "They Went for the Gold (and Got It): Cyclone Olympians". Cardinal Tales. 2014-02-07. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
- ^ "Iowa State Athletics". www.cyclones.com. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
- ^ "41st NCAA Wrestling Tournament" (PDF). wrestlingstats.com.
- ^ "42nd NCAA Wrestling Tournament" (PDF). wrestlingstats.com.
- ^ "Iowa State Athletics". www.cyclones.com. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
- ^ Kirshenbaum, Jerry. "A DIFFERENT TWIST IN THIS BROTHER ACT". SI.com. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
- ^ Grasso, John (2014). Historical Dictionary of Wrestling. Plymouth, UK: Scarecrow Press. pp. 224–225. ISBN 978-0-8108-7925-6.
- ^ Newman, Bruce. "THE BROTHERS RAISED A JOYFUL RUCKUS". SI.com. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
- ^ Wilson, Kevin. "Petersons reflect on Olympic Games of the past and present". Watertown Daily Times Online. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
- ^ Bill Stokes "Comstock Salutes Its Heroes" Milwaukee Journal Sentinel September 14, 1972.
- ^ "Camp of Champs, Inc". wrestleworx.com. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
- ^ "Ben Peterson | National Wrestling Hall of Fame". nwhof.org. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
- ^ "43_Where_Did_the_Peterson_Roll_Come_From.pdf" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 28, 2019.
- ^ "Wrestling at the 1972 München Summer Games: Men's Light-Heavyweight, Freestyle". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
- ^ "Wrestling at the 1976 Montréal Summer Games: Men's Light-Heavyweight, Freestyle". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18. Retrieved 2018-01-05.