Bear Wrestled at Halftime of a UT Basketball Game

Shortly after he graduated in 1972, Roger Peltz and health club owner John Paschal were asked by basketball coach Mears to wrestle a bear at the halftime of a game. The bear was brought from Cherokee, North Carolina, and Mears’ special assistant, Marty Morris, organized a parade in which the bear rode down Gay Street in the back of a white Volkswagen convertible with orange fenders. The bear was also taken to a bar where it sat on a stool and drank a beer. At halftime, Peltz tackled the gentle, declawed and detoothed bear, but it was Paschal who applied the winning bear hug.