Tom Peckham is considered one of the top products of Iowa's storied wrestling history.

He began his wrestling career before joining any of the teams in the Cresco, Iowa school system, working out with the junior high team as a fourth grader.

That experience served him well as he went 7-3 as a freshman, suffering the only three losses of his prep career.

Peckham was unstoppable from 1960-62 compiling 14-0 records each year and capturing state championships at 127 pounds as a sophomore, at 154 pounds as a junior, and at 165 pounds as a senior.

He continued his career at Iowa State University, coached by Harold Nichols, also a Cresco native and a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Peckham was unable to compete at the varsity level as a freshman, but he did wrestle in many open tournaments.

Once he took the mat for ISU as a sophomore, he won a Big Eight Conference title and finished fourth at the NCAA tournament.

He went 20-1-0 as a junior, losing 3-2 to Oklahoma State's Bill Harlow, a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, in the Big Eight Conference tournament. Peckham avenged the loss at the NCAA tournament to win his first national title.

Peckham won his second Big Eight title and his second NCAA championship as a senior, beating Oklahoma State's Fred Fozzard, a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in the finals of both tournaments.

Peckham finished fourth at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.

A member of the Iowa High School Hall of Fame and the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame, Peckham was the Grand March Escort at the 1981 Iowa State High School Wrestling Tournament.