Ted Petersen was referred to as simply “The Coach” by the many friends and athletes who admiration and respect he earned.

He was a community leader in his hometown of Levittown during the course of his 33 years as a dedicated family man, physical education teacher, football, baseball and wrestling coach while also serving as the director of a summer camp for school children in the Adirondack Mountains.

After graduating Cortland State University in 1958 and despite not having any prior experience with wrestling, Petersen took a job coaching the junior high wrestling team of his local school district “because they needed a coach.”

He read books, pursued knowledgeable coaches for their advice and even listened to his own young wrestlers to learn the rules and techniques. He quickly developed his own theories and sought out some of the finest clinicians in the country in a continuing effort to keep abreast of the best and latest skills emerging in the rapidly advancing sport of amateur wrestling.

Wrestling evolved into Coach Peterson’s favorite sport.

In his early years at Island Trees High School, he often scheduled dual meets with some of the toughest teams in Nassau County even though he knew that these usually meant defeat for his squad. He believed that the way to improve was to test yourself against the best.

This theory soon began to pay dividends, as his teams compiled a dual meet record of 325-70-4 in 27 years. Petersen led his teams to 20 conference championships and three Section VIII titles while also producing 22 individual Section VIII champions and six New York state champions.

Coach Peterson died at the age of 55 in 1989 after a two-year struggle with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

Despite the numerous awards he received, including being inducted into the New York State Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1989, and championship teams he coached, Peterson shunned the spotlight.

He preferred to focus his attention on the many children and athletes whom he inspired and helped to become responsible and caring adults.

Coach Petersen lived humbly and taught his own personal standards of excellence, which are summed up in his favorite motto of “Seek The Highest!”