Ben Peterson

Ben Peterson
Peterson (bottom) at the 1976 Olympics
Personal information
Full name Benjamin Lee Peterson
Born (1950-06-27) 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
Representing  United States
Olympic Games
1972 Munich -90 kg
1976 Montreal -90 kg
World Championships
1973 Tehran -90 kg
Pan American Games
1975 Mexico City -90 kg

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 Bible College for 28 years.

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 2nd in 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 continued his success capturing 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]

International 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 1973 Peterson began his coaching career as head coach at Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Watertown, WI. 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]

Ben was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2002.[13]

Olympic game matches

Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event Location
1976 Olympic Silver Medalist at 90kg
Loss 11–1–1 Soviet Union Levan Tediashvili 5–11 1976-07-29 1976 Olympic Games Canada Montreal
Win 11–0–1 East Germany Horst Stottmeister 13–8 1976-07-29 1976 Olympic Games Canada Montreal
Win 10–0–1 Poland Paweł Kurczewski 13–4 1976-07-29 1976 Olympic Games Canada Montreal
Win 9–0–1 Cuba Bárbaro Morgan Fall 1976-07-29 1976 Olympic Games Canada Montreal
Win 8–0–1 Japan Yoshiaki Yatsu 19–2 1976-07-29 1976 Olympic Games Canada Montreal
Win 7–0–1 Bulgaria Shukri Akhmedov 14–13 1976-07-29 1976 Olympic Games Canada Montreal
Win 6–0–1 Romania Stelică Morcov 7–4 1972-08-30 1976 Olympic Games Canada Montreal
1972 Olympic Gold Medalist at 90kg
Win 5–0–1 Bulgaria Rusi Petrov Fall 1972-08-30 1972 Olympic Games West Germany Munich
Win 4–0–1 Cuba Bárbaro Morgan Fall 1972-08-30 1972 Olympic Games West Germany Munich
Win 3–0–1 Iran Reza Khorrami Won 1972-08-30 1972 Olympic Games West Germany Munich
Draw 2–0–1 Soviet Union Gennady Strakhov Draw 1972-08-30 1972 Olympic Games West Germany Munich
Win 2–0 Mexico Raúl García Fall 1972-08-30 1972 Olympic Games West Germany Munich
Win 1–0 Poland Paweł Kurczewski Won 1972-08-30 1972 Olympic Games West Germany Munich
Reference:[14][15]

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. ↑ kevinw@wdtimes.com, Kevin Wilson. "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. ↑ "Wrestling at the 1972 München Summer Games: Men's Light-Heavyweight, Freestyle". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
  15. ↑ "Wrestling at the 1976 Montréal Summer Games: Men's Light-Heavyweight, Freestyle". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
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