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 The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

champion at

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

. He founded the "Camp of Champs," which brought in Olympic wrestlers to train with high schoolers. Peterson also coached wrestling at

Maranatha Baptist University Maranatha Baptist University is a private Baptist university in Watertown, Wisconsin. History The institution was founded in 1968 as Maranatha Baptist Bible College by B. Myron Cedarholm. The college was named for the Aramaic phrase ''Marana ...

for 28 years.

Early life

Peterson was born in

Barron County, Wisconsin Barron County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 46,711. Its county seat is Barron. The county was created in 1859 and later organized in 1874. History The county was created in 1859 ...

but grew up on a dairy farm in nearby Comstock. While attending Cumberland High School, Peterson competed in both

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

. As a senior, he finished 2nd in the state wrestling tournament.

College career

Peterson continued his wrestling career at

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

where he competed in the 190 pound weight class and studied architecture. Peterson continued his success capturing three Big Eight championships and back-to-back

NCAA titles The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athlete, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic sports, ...

in 1971 and 1972. Peterson would later be one of the first inductees into the Iowa State Hall of Fame in 1998.

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. He followed that up with Bronze at the '73 World Championships in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

and Gold at the

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

hosted '75 Pan American Games. At the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Peterson would once again return to the podium with Silver in the 90 kg weight class. 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

in Watertown, WI, a position he would hold for the next 28 years. In 1977 Ben along with his brother

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

would start the Camp of Champs Wrestling Camps. The camp is a faith-based wrestling skills camp. Peterson was inducted into the

National Wrestling Hall of Fame The National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum and hall of fame for amateur wrestling, headquartered in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2010, it began operating the Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo, Iowa. History The museum was awarded to Stillw ...

as a Distinguished Member in 2002.

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.

Olympic game matches

, - ! Res. ! Record ! Opponent ! Score ! Date ! Event ! Location , - ! style=background:white colspan=7 , , - , Loss , 11–1–1 , align=left,

Levan Tediashvili Levan Tediashvili ( ka, ლევან თედიაშვილი; born 15 March 1948 in Gegmoubani, Georgian SSR) is a former Soviet (Georgian) wrestler and Olympic champion in Freestyle wrestling in 1972 and 1976. He remained undefeated b ...

, style="font-size:88%", 5–11 , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=7, July 29, 1976 , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=7, 1976 Olympic Games , style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=7,

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, - , Win , 11–0–1 , align=left,

Horst Stottmeister Horst Stottmeister (born 7 January 1948) is a retired German freestyle wrestler. He was a European champion in 1970 and 1975 and won three silver medals at the world championships in 1971–1975. He placed fourth at the 1972 and 1976 Summer Oly ...

, style="font-size:88%", 13–8 , - , Win , 10–0–1 , align=left,

Paweł Kurczewski Paweł Zbigniew Kurczewski (17 August 1950 – 13 December 2009) was a Polish wrestler who competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics and in the 1976 Summer Olympics. He was born in Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in ce ...

, style="font-size:88%", 13–4 , - , Win , 9–0–1 , align=left,

Bárbaro Morgan Bárbaro Julio Morgan Soroa (4 December 1951 – January 2018) was a heavyweight wrestler from Cuba, who competed in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling,Details oBárbaro Morgan profileavailable at the United World Wrestling Database. winnin ...

, style="font-size:88%", Fall , - , Win , 8–0–1 , align=left,

Yoshiaki Yatsu Yoshiaki Yatsu (谷津嘉章 ''Yatsu Yoshiaki'', born July 19, 1956) is a Japanese professional wrestler, amateur wrestler and mixed martial artist. He is known for being one-half of the first-ever All Japan Pro Wrestling World Tag Team Champi ...

, style="font-size:88%", 19–2 , - , Win , 7–0–1 , align=left, Shukri Akhmedov , style="font-size:88%", 14–13 , - , Win , 6–0–1 , align=left,

Stelică Morcov Stelică Morcov (born 1 December 1951) is a retired light-heavyweight freestyle wrestler from Romania. He won bronze medals at the Summer Olympics and the European Wrestling Championships The European Wrestling Championships is the second old ...

, style="font-size:88%", 7–4 , - ! style=background:white colspan=7 , , - , Win , 5–0–1 , align=left,

Rusi Petrov Rusi Petrov ( bg, Руси Петров; 26 April 1944 – August 2023) was a Bulgarian wrestler who competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Mun ...

, style="font-size:88%", Fall , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=6, August 30, 1972 , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=6, 1972 Olympic Games , style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=6,

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, - , Win , 4–0–1 , align=left,

, style="font-size:88%", Fall , - , Win , 3–0–1 , align=left, Reza Khorrami , style="font-size:88%", Won , - , Draw , 2–0–1 , align=left,

Gennady Strakhov Gennady Strakhov (1 November 1944 – 30 December 2020)Raúl García , style="font-size:88%", Fall , - , Win , 1–0 , align=left,

, style="font-size:88%", Won , - , colspan="7" style="font-size:8pt; text-align:center;", Reference:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peterson, Ben 1950 births Iowa State Cyclones wrestlers Olympic silver medalists for the United States in wrestling Wrestlers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1976 Summer Olympics American male sport wrestlers People from Barron County, Wisconsin Sportspeople from Wisconsin Iowa State University alumni Maranatha Baptist University alumni Living people Pew Fellows in the Arts World Wrestling Championships medalists Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in wrestling Pan American Games medalists in wrestling Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Wrestlers at the 1975 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1975 Pan American Games