GW Athletics Hall of Fame Spotlight: Chris Peterson
1/12/2022 10:00:00 AM | General
Share:
Chris Peterson capped his collegiate wrestling career in style, representing GW on the sport's biggest stage in the 1987 NCAA Championship at Maryland's Cole Field House.
Â
It was the end to a decorated run in Buff and Blue for Peterson, who under the direction of Hall of Fame Head Coach Jim Rota became just the fourth wrestler in program history to reach 100 career wins. He claimed a pair of Capital Collegiate Conference titles before winning the NCAA Eastern Regional title at 177 pounds as a senior to punch his ticket to the national tournament.
Â
In recognition of a fantastic final campaign, Peterson was honored as GW Athletics' Outstanding Senior Athlete that year. He'll be the fifth member of the wrestling program to join the athletic department's Hall of Fame.
Â
After graduating with a degree in International Business, Peterson stuck around the program as an assistant coach, and he remains part of a wrestling brotherhood that continues to hold strong. Today, he still lives locally in Northern Virginia, working as an independent contractor and raising teenage sons Graham, Landon and Anders with his wife Kristen.
Â
Peterson will officially be inducted soon into the GW Athletics Hall of Fame, alongside seven other celebrated individuals and one historic team.
Â
He looks back on his decorated career on the mat in the fifth edition of our Hall of Fame Spotlight series.
 What did it mean to you to get the news that you're going into the Hall of Fame?
Â
"It blew me away. The company that's there, especially from the wrestling team, is elite. I never really considered myself that. I don't like to celebrate myself. I'm not a speech-giver. I'm going to get up there and thank the people that need to be thanked and make way for the next person that comes behind me.
"Without each and every person in the program and how they made me better, I would not have been able to achieve what I did. It really is an honor for all of us, I'm just the lucky one who gets to accept it.
"Until I saw the announcement, I didn't even know that I ranked that high in the record books of the GW wrestling team. I was surprised. I knew I'd done well, but that was two lifetimes ago. I started at 17 down there and finished at 20, and I'm 56 now. It was a long time ago. It's a lot of water under the bridge since then. I remember more of the experience of being in the athletic department representing GW and the good times I had with the guys on the road and all the great Smith Center memories and the people who were a part of it.
Â
"I don't like to celebrate myself. I was telling my oldest son that I like to let my performance speak for itself. I think I have a career that speaks for itself. Maybe I'm old school. I don't like to toot my own horn. I appreciate the award. I think it's an amazing honor to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. It's an elite crowd, and I'm honored to be inducted into it."
Peterson, shown here with the 1984-85 squad, finished his collegiate career with 105 victories.
How did you end up choosing GW?
Â
"My dad was in the Navy, so we moved every three-to-five years. I moved in the middle of my senior year from Cleveland, Ohio to Annapolis, Md. My dad worked for the Naval Academy. We ended up living in Gambrills, Md. My dad was in the supply corps, so he ended up managing the Naval Academy dairy for a while.
Â
"I had my birthday Oct. 1, and we moved Oct. 2. It was like right out of a bad movie. I was a shy kid, but fortunately, being on the wrestling team, I had some built-in friends. I came in and ended up taking third in the state. Coach Rota saw me there. I had my heart set on going to Ohio University because a lot of the kids I'd wrestled with in Ohio ended up there, but thankfully, my parents over the course of my senior year convinced me that GW was the better option.
Â
"Maybe the better judgment that was sleeping inside of me decided that's where I wanted to go. They gave me the option. They didn't make me go anywhere. I'm glad I did. I think the arc of my life was a lot different than it would've been had I gone to OU. Things happen for a reason."
 What's that bond like for alumni of the wrestling program, no matter if you competed together or not?
Â
"I only wrestled. I didn't play any other sports. I played soccer when I was a kid, but I don't really have a frame of reference for any other sport. Wrestling, it's a different breed of people. You are in each other's business for two hours a day, at least. And then in college, you're traveling together, too.
Â
"I think every team ends up being a family somewhat, but wrestlers are different because of the experiences you share. You tend to celebrate the wins more, whether it's for you or someone else, because you've been there and you know what it's like to get your butt kicked. Of course, you lose in team sports, but you get physically beat in wrestling. You lose because you got beat. Someone made you do something that you physically didn't want to do. Because of that, you celebrate the wins of your teammates, and when you go through that shared experience, it just bonds you closer."
What made that time at GW special?
Â
"It was just a great shared experience. Like one big family. I had a lot of friends on the basketball team, a lot of friends on the baseball team. I had friends on the gymnastics team, the volleyball team. They'd come to our matches. We'd go to their games. It was just a great time. Certainly one of the fondest periods of my life. I don't remember a lot from childhood, but I remember a whole bunch from GW."
After graduation, Peterson stuck around to help the program as an assistant coach.
What were some of your best memories on the mat?
Â
"It would probably be the regional tournament my senior year. It was up at Slippery Rock, and I had to go through guys that had beaten me. I had lost to a guy from Millersville, and I ended up pinning him. I had previously lost to a guy from Shippensburg, and I beat him. And then in the finals, it was a squeaker. I beat a guy who was seeded No. 1 from Slippery Rock. My dad has the bracket sheets in a closet in his house, so I guess I should go look at those. I ended up squeaking by him by 2-3 points. I was probably an underachiever in college just due to lack of confidence, but I chose the right tournament to peak.
Â
"It's funny. The next year, I traveled with Joe Mannix to Oklahoma City for Nationals, but the year I made it, it was at the University of Maryland. It was like, 'OK guys, get on the beltway and drive.' As opposed to the super experience of flying and staying in a hotel. I got to do that with Joe after I graduated when I stayed on as an assistant.
Â
"Still, it was an incredible experience. I'd been up to Cole Field House before for basketball games and a couple of pay-per-view boxing matches, but that was something else. There were eight mats, and it was a real eye-opener. I got to hear my name called. I didn't even win a match. I think I lost my first match to a guy from Morgan State in the round of 64 and I was done, but it was great to end my wrestling career like that."
