Pete was born in Watertown, Wisconsin, the ninth of fifteen children. His family traditions included hard work, dedication, and sports. Pete graduated from Middleton High School, where he was a four-year letter winner in wrestling and tennis. He was manager of Middleton's football teams coached by Otto Britenbach, whose philosophy of hard nosed football is still evident in Pete's wrestling practices. While attending Stout State University, he played on the baseball team, earning 3 letters. Pete graduated from Stout in December 1967 and began teaching Industrial Arts at North Crawford in January 1968, where he developed the first junior high curriculum in that department. During his tenure at North Crawford Pete spent four years as an assistant football coach and has been head softball coach for the past three seasons. During the 1968-69 school year Pete became the head coach of the three-year-old North Crawford wrestling program. Due to small numbers, his early years teams won few dual meets but, even with the single class system, he had at least one state qualifier nearly every year. By the time Pete "retired" from teaching and coaching in 1982 to work full-time in industry, he had earned 95 dual meet wins. He had coached 13 state qualifiers including 1 state champion and 3 place finishers. His squads had won conference dual titles in '77, '81, and '82, as well as the conference tournament championship in '82. His '82 team was regional champion and finished third at the state tournament. After his first retirement, Pete continued his involvement in wrestling by working as a WIAA official for the next 8 years. Also during that time Pete was instrumental in the development of the North Crawford Youth Wrestling program where he was head coach for many years. He was also an active member of the Wisconsin Wrestling Federation helping out as a coach or if needed as a volunteer official at various tournaments in the area. In 1990, North Crawford coaxed Pete back from retirement. From 1990 to 2000, Pete's team won 85 dual meets, 10 conference championships, 2 dual conference tournament championships, and 5 regional championships. He took an additional 26 wrestlers to State, with 8 champions, 2 runners-up, and 11 place finishers. Pete again turned the reigns over to a younger coach for the 2000-2001 season; only to be asked to return the following season when that coach accepted a job in administration at another school. Since that time Pete's teams have won 25 more dual meets, 3 more conference championships, another dual conference tournament championship and another regional championship. He has qualified 8 more wrestlers to the state tournament, resulting in 1 state champion, and 4 other state place winners. In all, Pete's wrestlers have won 205 dual meets, 16 conference championships, 4 dual conference tournament championships, and 7 regional championships. His teams and wrestlers have won numerous invitational championships and are always considered a force to be reckoned with. His teams have placed 3rd or better at the Bi-State Classic four times. He has coached 47 state qualifiers including 10 champions, 2 runners-up, and 15 other place winners. In his spare time, Pete enjoys small game hunting, fishing, reading, and watching classic comedy videos. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus and is the head of the pastoral council of St. Mary's church in Gays Mills. When asked what it takes to become a success, Pete's philosophy is simple -- "lots of hard work, and nothing comes without paying the price." The success that the North Crawford program has enjoyed can be attributed to excellent assistant coaches, parents who are great backers of the program, and talented kids who aren't afraid of hard work. Pete and his wife, Yvonne, have 7 children. They include: Mike, a chemical process engineer at a paper mill in Taylorville, Dlinois; Michelle, a neo-natal ICU nurse at Cardinal Glennon Hospital in St. Louis; Teresa, an x-ray and MRI technician in Oconomowoc; Steve, a chemical engineering Paper Science graduate from UW-Stevens Point; Scott, a computer science graduate from West Point - United States Military Academy; Eric, currently an assistant wrestling coach at North Crawford, is the head groundskeeper for Comer Industries; and Denise, a Vocational Rehabilitation graduate student at UW -Stout. Sons Steve and Scott are both First Lieutenants currently serving in Iraq. He also has two granddaughters Chandler and Mikayla.