The Petersons back up their religious words
by Kyle Klingman

When 1976 Olympic champion John Peterson gives an autograph a series Bible verses accompany his name. The verses Peterson uses are I Corinthians 9:24-27.

These four verses talk about running a race, hard training, and striving for a crown - all things that are the foundation of Peterson's life.

But if Peterson is ever seeking counsel on a new verse, I would suggest he looks closely at verse 22 of the same chapter and book. This verse talks about becoming all things to all men and humility.

And it is because I recently spent two days in Juneau, Wisc, at Camp of Champs - a summer wrestling camp that John and his brother Ben started in 1977 - that I can vouch for John's use of this verse.

First, imagine the remarkable and motivational story that a person like John Peterson has to tell our youth. Since 1948, every freestyle World or Olympic champion from the United States has placed at least third or better at the Division I NCAA tournament with one exception: John Peterson.

By the time he was a senior in college Peterson finally placed fifth at 167 pounds in 1971. But it wasn't at the NCAA tournament. Try fifth at the NAIA tournament.

Then, two years later, the guy wins a silver medal at the Olympics at 180.5 pounds after getting blown out by Steve Combs 15-0 and placing fourth at the AAU tournament. At the 1976 Montreal Olympics John blitzed the competition (he beat the Russian 20-4) to win a gold medal.

That would be like Mike Reis - a fifth place finisher from Cumberland College at this year's NAIA tournament - making a run at the 2008 Olympics, winning a silver at 185 pounds then winning a gold medal against the world's best in 2012.

Need a motivational speaker? John Peterson just moved way up on my list. Don't think you can do it? John Peterson has already proven you can.

As for the running the race, John ran a sub-2:50 marathon in 1985. The guy is beyond amazing.

But here is the kicker: This legend of the sport, this guy who is one of only a few Olympic wrestling champions our country has produced, doesn't ask for special treatment while at Camp of Champs. And at 58 years of age with two replaced knees you couldn't blame him if he demanded an upgrade.

No, John Peterson opts to stay amongst the masses. He resides in one of the rooms as a camp counselor and sleeps on the same paper-thin mattresses that everyone else does. He has become all things to all campers in the hope that he might win some.

Peterson believes firmly that his winning ways can be attributed to two things: God and Gable. That night John let his campers know about the first of his two Gs.

"You do not have to be part of this Bible study," said Peterson. "I'm not trying to push the Bible down your throat. I just want you to know that our faith is what made (my brother Ben and I) good athletically."

Earlier in the day John filled me in on the second G.

"My success in wrestling is a tribute to Gable," he said. "No way would I be as good. He changed the way I approached wrestling."

John's brother subscribes to the double G school of thought too. A graduate of Iowa State, Ben won two NCAA titles as a Cyclone. But Ben is a bit more old school than his brother.

During camp John was wearing a pair of baggy black shorts, brown flip-flops, and red Camp of Champs T-shirt. Ben chose a more traditional look: 1980s blue jeans, all white tennis shoes, and a ribbed navy blue T-shirt was Ben's attire.

While John chose the New Testament for his signature verse, Ben went with the Old (Testament that is). Ben's verse of choice is Proverbs 22:1. It states: A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.

Ben has won two Olympic medals during his career - one is gold and one is silver.

And the journey Ben has taken recently with Camp of Champs is an inverted version of one of the oldest stories in all of literature.

In Genesis 6 God asked Noah to build an ark because a great flood was coming. Noah never planned on being an architect. Ben Peterson, on the other hand, thought architecture was the direction for his life.

"I had my sights and my thoughts on designing buildings and then I would have my own architecture firm," said Ben. "I remember dreaming about being successful enough to provide for myself and my family out of my skills as a designer and a drawer of buildings."

In 2003, Ben stepped away from his job as head wrestling coach at Maranatha Bible College to commit himself full time to Camp of Champs. Things were going so well early on that the camp needed to add another location outside of the original site Watertown, Wisc.

Eventually, Ben came upon a facility in Juneau after falling short at 20 other locations. It was March and Camp of Champs started in late June. He was recruiting kids for his camp but he didn't have a facility yet.

Then the floods came.

For Noah it was a good thing. For Ben Peterson it was not.

The new Camp of Champs facility was an abandoned high school, one that needed a lot of work. Pipes were broken, water wasn't running, and nothing was functioning in the building.

Peterson had his ark in place. His problem was getting it to set sail.

"The hallways were flooded with water," said Ben. "I remember one day last year I was crying because I didn't know how we were going to run camp. It was so dirty and there was so much junk around I didn't know how we were going to do it.

"Shame on us though. It needed some tender loving care and we gave it to it. I had several people who knew what we were doing come in and donate their time or this place would not have been functional."

Now that his ship is sailing Ben's next Biblical step is forgiveness. The former Iowa State great still dislikes the Cowboys of Oklahoma State.

However he is making progress. Peterson admitted to watching John Smith's "How Low Can You Go?" and was "very impressed."

Perhaps Ben needs to consider using Luke 6:27 as his signature verse.

Kyle Klingman is the associate director at the International Wrestling Institute and Museum. He can be contacted via e-mail at kyle@wrestlingmuseum.org .