Ben Peterson

Last updated
Ben Peterson
Ben Peterson vs Horst Stottmeister 1976.jpg
Peterson (bottom) at the 1976 Olympics
Personal information
Full nameBenjamin Lee Peterson
Born (1950-06-27) June 27, 1950 (age 73)
Barron County, Wisconsin, U.S.
Height187 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Sport
Sport Freestyle wrestling
ClubIowa State Wrestling Club
Medal record
Men's freestyle wrestling
Representing the Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Olympic Games
Olympic rings.svg
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1972 Munich 90 kg
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1976 Montreal 90 kg
World Championships
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1973 Tehran 90 kg
Pan American Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1975 Mexico City 90 kg
Collegiate Wrestling
Representing the Iowa State Cyclones
NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1971 Auburn 190 lb
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1972 College Park 190 lb

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.

Contents

Early life

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

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

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

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

Res.RecordOpponentScoreDateEventLocation
1976 Olympic Silver Medalist at 90kg
Loss11–1–1 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Levan Tediashvili 5–11July 29, 1976 1976 Olympic Games Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Montreal
Win11–0–1 Flag of East Germany.svg Horst Stottmeister 13–8
Win10–0–1 Flag of Poland.svg Paweł Kurczewski 13–4
Win9–0–1 Flag of Cuba.svg Bárbaro Morgan Fall
Win8–0–1 Flag of Japan.svg Yoshiaki Yatsu 19–2
Win7–0–1 Flag of Bulgaria.svg Shukri Akhmedov14–13
Win6–0–1 Flag of Romania.svg Stelică Morcov 7–4
1972 Olympic Gold Medalist at 90kg
Win5–0–1 Flag of Bulgaria.svg Rusi Petrov FallAugust 30, 1972 1972 Olympic Games Flag of Germany.svg Munich
Win4–0–1 Flag of Cuba.svg Bárbaro Morgan Fall
Win3–0–1 Flag of Iran.svg Reza Khorrami Won
Draw2–0–1 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Gennady Strakhov Draw
Win2–0 Flag of Mexico.svg Raúl García Fall
Win1–0 Flag of Poland.svg Paweł Kurczewski Won
Reference: [15] [16]

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References

  1. ↑ "Wisconsin Wrestling Hall of Fame :: Peterson, Ben". www.wiwrestlinghofhonorees.org. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
  2. ↑ "They Went for the Gold (and Got It): Cyclone Olympians". Cardinal Tales. 2014-02-07. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
  3. ↑ "Iowa State Athletics". www.cyclones.com. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
  4. ↑ "41st NCAA Wrestling Tournament" (PDF). wrestlingstats.com.
  5. ↑ "42nd NCAA Wrestling Tournament" (PDF). wrestlingstats.com.
  6. ↑ "Iowa State Athletics". www.cyclones.com. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
  7. ↑ Kirshenbaum, Jerry. "A DIFFERENT TWIST IN THIS BROTHER ACT". SI.com. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
  8. ↑ Grasso, John (2014). Historical Dictionary of Wrestling. Plymouth, UK: Scarecrow Press. pp. 224–225. ISBN   978-0-8108-7925-6.
  9. ↑ Newman, Bruce. "THE BROTHERS RAISED A JOYFUL RUCKUS". SI.com. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
  10. ↑ Wilson, Kevin. "Petersons reflect on Olympic Games of the past and present". Watertown Daily Times Online. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
  11. ↑ Bill Stokes "Comstock Salutes Its Heroes" Milwaukee Journal Sentinel September 14, 1972.
  12. ↑ "Camp of Champs, Inc". wrestleworx.com. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
  13. ↑ "Ben Peterson | National Wrestling Hall of Fame". nwhof.org. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
  14. ↑ "43_Where_Did_the_Peterson_Roll_Come_From.pdf" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 28, 2019.
  15. ↑ "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.
  16. ↑ "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.
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