As Olympic Freestyle Wrestlers battle for medals at the 2012 London Olympics, we remember the storied career of a Stout Olympic Wrestler.
The UW-Stout Archives is the home of a variety of materials documenting the career of Olympic gold medalist John Peterson.
Peterson graduated from Stout in 1971 and became an Olympic silver medalist in Freestyle Wrestling at the Munich Olympic games the following year. He won Gold at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. He wrestled in the 180.5 pound weight class both times.
Throughout his academic career, Peterson excelled at the sport. As this clipping from the 1970 Tower Yearbook attests, he helped the Blue Devils win the Conference Championship.
Following his Olympic Championship, Peterson returned to campus to celebrate with members of the UW-Stout Community. This article from the September 16, 1976 issue Stoutonia described how he visited his alma mater with his gold medal in tow.
There are many more photographs and articles about Peterson and his time at Stout. For more information, contact the UW-Stout Archives at archives@stout.edu.
