John Beresford excelled in baseball for four years and wrestling for three years at Phillipsburg High School, helping the team capture the Pennsylvania State High School Wrestling Championship in 1947.

After high school he worked two years for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and then played a season of professional baseball in the minor leagues for the Philadelphia Athletics. Drafted into the United States Army for the Korean War, John's FBI security clearance allowed him to be assigned to "Operation Ivy" on Eniwetok island in the Marshall Islands where he witnessed the first hydrogen bom test, code name "Mike."

Beresford received his bachelor's degree in business administration from Long Beach State University and earned his teaching credentials from Arizona State University.

He began his teaching and coaching career at Rim of the World High School in Lake Arrowhead, California in 1965. John served as the head wrestling coach for 28 years from 1965 to 1993 and then 10 more years as volunteer wrestling coach advisor from 1994 to 2003.

Beresford began the Rim of the World Wrestling Club in 1961 and started the wrestling program at Rim of the World High School in 1965. When "Coach B." started the wrestling program in 1965, Rim was the only high school in its league with a wrestling program.

He led his teams to 16 league championships and two California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section Division titles while compiling a dual meet record of 210-20.

Beresford coached three-time state champion Scott Chapman and Marcie Van Dusen, who was a member of the United States women's freestyle team at the 2008 Olympics.

Beresford founded a 24-team wrestling invitational tournament in 1982 and served as its director and coordinator until 1999. The tournament continues to be run by the Rim School District and is now the "John Beresford Invitational," which has included a girls division since 2022.

In 1969, Beresford also coached the World Champion Mojave Desert All-Star baseball team, a group of 16-18 year olds who represented the Big League division of Little League.

He was named the "Outstanding High School Teach of the Year" in 1975 for Riverside and San Bernardino counties. John retired from teaching in 1993, but continued to work as a substitute teacher in the Rim School District until 2018.

Beresford was inducted into the California Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2015.