The defeat was not predicted. How could anyone imagine that the opponent’s perfect record would end so soon, especially to a high school senior?

Students, teachers, parents, and practically the whole community packed the gym. The noise was deafening as the competitor was led into the bright lights. Within seconds, it elongated its body, rising on its hind legs to a staggering height.

The attached chains did nothing to assuage then Howland High School senior Bob Bozzuto’s nerves.

The bear struck first, diving towards Bozzuto as he deflected its first hit. The quickness of its paws caught him by surprise, swiftly dodging the repeated swipes as the crowd jumped to their feet.

Bozzuto, the longstanding Athletic Director at North Allegheny, was a high school athlete in his hometown of Warren, Ohio. Recognized for his accumulation of accolades in three sports, Bozzuto earned this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, an opportunity that even he was not trained for.

“I was a varsity athlete in wrestling, football, and baseball, and I was pretty big and strong,” Bozzuto said, reminiscing about the high school spectacle over 35 years ago. “But you cannot prepare for a bear.”

It sounds far too hard to believe — that a school assembly would feature a student wrestling a bear — and in fact, the proposal for the event would have been dismissed instantly had it not been for Bozzuto’s childhood friend. 

A few weeks prior, Bozzuto’s father, who was a member of the sports boosters at his school, received a call from a traveling donkey basketball team. They were a fundraising organization that held games at local schools around his area. For this particular game, however, they had a special half-time show in mind. Their undefeated bear was ready for another match, and they believed Bozzuto was the perfect candidate for the match.

When his father asked if he would be interested, Bozzuto laughed. But after he gave it more thought, he agreed to do it — with one stipulation.

“I will only do it if all of the proceeds go to the Steve Peterson Memorial Fund,” he told his father.

Steve Peterson was a frequent teammate throughout Bozzuto’s high school years. As fellow baseball players, the two trained together year-round. Summers of backyard pick-up games and end-of-the-year state championships are a few of the golden memories that Bozzuto still has of Peterson.

But after a pre-season conditioning session in January of 1975, Bozzuto’s time with Peterson was suddenly cut short. Steve’s undiagnosed heart ailment took his life when he arrived back home that night. 

“The brawl [with the bear] was a great cause that I only agreed to because of Steve,” Bozzuto said, “only because of Steve.”

A few hours before the fight, Bozzuto sat in a room with the bear. The organization wanted to make sure that they were both comfortable with each other before they came head to head. 

“If there is one thing I will never forget about the bear, it is that it stunk,” Bozzuto said. “This is no exaggeration. I had to take an hour-long shower to get the smell off of me. They fed the bear garbage.” 

When Bozzuto walked into the gym that evening during halftime, the crowds shouted his name.  A moment later, the muzzled bear ran out, quickly swerving its paws as it swiped at his face.

“I don’t think people understand just how fast bears can move,” Bozzuto said.

Used to wrestling other humans, Bozzuto was not prepared to endure the next 20 minutes of back-and-forth confrontation. 

The bear’s curved back was the main issue. As Bozzuto kept getting closer to pinning it completely to the ground, the animal would roll over, granting itself easy access to smack its competitor’s head. Every time Bozzuto would try to stand up, the bear would lunge at him.

“When I woke up the next day, my whole left side was completely sore,” Bozzuto said. “The pounding that the bear did was evident.”

But Bozzuto pushed through the pain, never losing sight of why he got himself into this frightening predicament in the first place. And ultimately, this is what led to his victory.

“I was able to block its advances and eventually take it down,” he said. “I actually took the bear down a few more times until they told me to get off of it and finally crowned me as the winner.”

Bozzuto laughed as he reminisced on how the crowd started to chant for the bear once they sensed the animal’s defeat.

As he left the gym that day, he wanted everyone to remember only one thing about the event.

“It wasn’t about me or the bear. It was about Steve,” Bozzuto said. “It was for him, his family, and his younger brother. That’s all.”