Ben Peterson

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For other people named Ben Peterson, see Ben Peterson (disambiguation).
Ben Peterson
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
SportFreestyle wrestling
ClubIowa State Wrestling Club
Medal record
Men's freestyle wrestling
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1972 Munich 90 kg
Silver medal – second place 1976 Montreal 90 kg
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1973 Tehran 90 kg
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 1975 Mexico City 90 kg
Collegiate Wrestling
Representing the Iowa State Cyclones
NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
Gold medal – first place 1971 Auburn 190 lb
Gold medal – first place 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.

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]

Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event Location
1976 Olympic Silver Medalist at 90kg
Loss 11–1–1 Soviet Union Levan Tediashvili 5–11 July 29, 1976 1976 Olympic Games Canada Montreal
Win 11–0–1 East Germany Horst Stottmeister 13–8
Win 10–0–1 Poland Paweł Kurczewski 13–4
Win 9–0–1 Cuba Bárbaro Morgan Fall
Win 8–0–1 Japan Yoshiaki Yatsu 19–2
Win 7–0–1 Bulgaria Shukri Akhmedov 14–13
Win 6–0–1 Romania Stelică Morcov 7–4
1972 Olympic Gold Medalist at 90kg
Win 5–0–1 Bulgaria Rusi Petrov Fall August 30, 1972 1972 Olympic Games West Germany Munich
Win 4–0–1 Cuba Bárbaro Morgan Fall
Win 3–0–1 Iran Reza Khorrami Won
Draw 2–0–1 Soviet Union Gennady Strakhov Draw
Win 2–0 Mexico Raúl García Fall
Win 1–0 Poland Paweł Kurczewski Won
Reference:[15][16]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ben Peterson.

References[edit]

  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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