Peter J. Fritts, a Coweta County resident and son of Courtney R. (Pete) and Page Fritts of Peachtree City, is entering the Georgia Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. He will be inducted May 1 at the Georgia Chapter’s 2016 ceremony at the Marietta Hilton Hotel.
Fritts attended Woodward Academy from 1979-1983, where he lettered in football, wrestling and baseball. He became a four-time undefeated Georgia High School Association (GHSA) state wrestling champion with a career record of 101-0, a national record for his weight class at that time. He also held the GHSA state record for undefeated wrestlers with over 100 career victories for 20 years.
He was named All-American in 1982 and 1983, and also selected to the elite USA Wrestling 1983 National High School Wrestling “Dream Team” as a first-team All-American. A synopsis of his overall wrestling career accomplishments and his photo were featured in a Feb. 1983 edition of Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd” column.
Fritts now resides in Newnan with his wife Susan, 14-year-old daughter Teagan and 11-year-old son Hayden. For 26 years he has been employed at Woodward Academy as a teacher and coach of football, cross-country, wrestling, baseball and girls’ golf.
As a head coach he has won GHSA state team titles in both sports. During his 18 years as head wrestling coach, his teams compiled a 468-171 overall record for an average of 26 team vic- tories per season. That puts him in the all-time top 10 for career team victories by a GHSA head wrestling coach.
During that span Fritts also produced nine individual state champi- ons and 67 state place winners. His teams won ten area traditional (individual) team championships, eight area dual meet team championships and finished in the top three of both area championships in all 18 years of his head coaching career.
At the state level, his teams placed in the top four of the GHSA state traditional team championships six times and in the GHSA state dual meet championships 10 times. His teams finished in the top 10 a staggering 17 times in 18 years. In 2012 the team won the Class AAAA state traditional team championship and was the 2012 Class AAAA state dual meet team runner-up.
Based on his individual wrestling and coaching prowess, Coach Fritts is being officially recognized by his state peers for his “Lifetime Service to Wrestling. “
