and what was the focus of the preparation for the Games? Peterson: Bill Farrell was an excellent coach and brought a
good staff together. The more guys you get together with differ- ent perspectives, the better. There are so many different kinds of characters in this sport. The biggest thing is that Coach Farrell talked to me about how I could compete at this level. He got the whole team together and said we would be the best U.S. team ever. He got us convinced.
USA Wrestler: What are your memories from your competi- tion at the 1972 Olympics, when you won a silver medal? Peterson: The most exciting experience was being part of that team, watching Gable who was so confident he would win that gold. He gave that confidence to all of us. After training with Gable and hearing Bill Farrell all summer, they had me con- vinced I could do it and that is how I wrestled. Ben and I wres- tled in our finals match the same time. I had already lost to (Levon) Tediashvili of the USSR. I had Stottmeister of East Germany. He had pinned me at World Cup, but I was a better wrestler and I got the best of him. Ben had to pin the Bulgarian to get the gold. Ben was on the next mat from me. I was think- ing more about his match than mine, but I didn’t look over there. It wasn’t until the ref raised my hand that I looked over there and he had the Bulgarian on his back. He pinned him, and we embraced. There were pictures of that in newspapers all over the world. My biggest disappointment is I don’t have a video of that moment.
USA Wrestler: After the Munich Games, you and Ben contin- ued competing. How did you arrange your life so you could con- tinue to train and compete? Peterson: I signed a contract to teach and coach at Madison
West High. Part of the reason was so I was close to University of Wisconsin to train there. Ben took a job with an architect in Madison. When my practice was over as a coach, I’d head over to the stadium where the Badger room is and work out with Ben and Russ Hellickson. The Wisconsin room was so tough. By 1979, we had half the World Team there. It was great for train- ing, but teaching and coaching didn’t work for me. The better option for me was Athletes In Action. From 1973-76, I wrestled with them. That top level of competition I missed by not being a Division I wrestler I got with AIA, which wrestled a lot of college programs.
USA Wrestler: What were your biggest challenges making the 1976 U.S. Olympic Team? Peterson: The big thing in 1976 was all the injuries I had. I was on the 1975 World Team but couldn’t compete. I had to go through three months of rehab from my tendon injury. In March, I wrestled in Tbilisi and in Poland. I came back drained and got mononucleousis. I was in the hospital for five days and would sleep for 18 hours a day. I got the OK to work out once a day, which was about a month before Trials. I hadn’t wrestled at nationals that year. I got a knee infection a week before the tournament. By the time the tournament came, it swelled up. I didn’t let that bother me. My weight had Greg Strobel, Greg Hicks, Mel Renfro and Dan Lewis. I beat guys who were in their prime. I beat Lewis in my last match and walked to the mat on crutches. Part of my inspiration was my wife, Nancy. She helped me see that although I did all the work, that God can overcome all of this stuff. It turned out to be a blessing.
USA Wrestler: What stands out in your mind about the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, where you won the Olympic gold medal?
Peterson: I was like a caged animal. I hadn’t been on the mat much. I was fresh there. The key matches were against two World Champions I faced, Adolf Seger of West Germany and Viktor Novoshilov of the Soviet Union. I hadn’t wrestled Seger. He was tricky. He started the leg lace technique. Gable had me prepared for that. In 1972, I had a double leg. By 1976, J Robinson had me working on my high crotch. I beat Seger 14-4. The win over the Russian was huge. We had wrestled eight times before the Olympics. All of the matches were 3-2 or 4-2. At the Olympics, I beat him 20-4. My final match was a Turkish guy I hadn’t wrestled. Ironically, winning was not as exciting as 1972. I had to watch Ben get beat by Tediashvili.
USA Wrestler: Tell us about your 1980 year, when Ben made his third Olympic team and the U.S. ultimately did not attend the Moscow Olympics due to the U.S. government boycott? Peterson: It was tough to stay motivated and continue to wrestle after the boycott. We had beaten the Soviets at the World Cup for the first time that year. We had the team to do it all. Ben said I was the one who kept him going those years after 1972. At the Olympic Trials, Ben made the team and I lost to Chris Campbell. The young guys were coming up then. I have a good excuse. My daughter was born five days after the Trials. I also knew that was going to be my last match because we weren’t going to the Olympics.
USA Wrestler: You lived many years overseas after you stopped competing. Explain what you were doing when you were living out of the country. Peterson: By 1978, Athletes In Action brought its two teams together in the USA, and we sent some people overseas. I was still competing so I didn’t go overseas then. I decided to wait until I stopped competing. I was there as the coach in 1980. After the Olympic Trials I did some training, and I moved to Vienna, Austria in the fall of 1981. Until 1984, I worked strictly in wrestling. Steve Barrett and Don Shuler were seriously training then. We went to many freestyle national tournaments, in Poland, the Czech Republic, East Germany, Romania, Yugoslavia and other countries. It was fun. Steve won every one of those tournaments but one. We were in a training camp in Poland when they declared martial law there. The Polish coach told us we had 12 hours to get out of the country. After that, I stayed in Vienna and worked with a travelling bible school. I did- n’t come back to the USA until 1991.
USA Wrestler: What do you enjoy about teaching wrestling to young people, and helping them in competition and in life? Peterson: I was an assistant coach at a high school for more than 15 years. You don’t wrestle because it is fun. You wrestle because it is rewarding. It’s rewarding because it is so hard. It takes a lot of discipline. In a match, it’s just you and that guy. You can’t rely on anybody else. It is a great example about what life is about. The work ethic is huge. I like being around pro- grams that allow kids to get exposed to that.
USA Wrestler: This summer, you helped coach our Cadet
World freestyle team in Hungary. What are your impressions of the athletes on that team? Peterson: It was a good time and I appreciate the opportuni-
ty. We had a unique group of guys. They all ended up placing except Jordan Rogers. He wrestled that Russian so tough. I am sure the Russian would have made the finals if Jordan hadn’t worn him out. I was impressed the first day in camp. They were focused on one thing, going over there and doing the best they could on the mat. They came to do business and they did it.
25 USA Wrestler
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