Niagara Falls senior Willie McDougald overtook Irvin Buck as NFHS’s all-time wins leader after notching his 211th career victory at the Linda Knuutila Memorial Tournament on Friday held at Niagara County C.C.
McDougald joined Buck as the second member of Wolverines’ 200-win club on December 4th. He needed just over two weeks of competition into his senior season to claim the program’s all-time mark which has stood since 2010. And, with over two months of wrestling still this season, Willie could very well come close to, if not outright achieve 250 career victories; a milestone only four other wrestlers have achieved in WNY history.
“It’s a great achievement to add to his decorated career in our program,” said Falls head coach DJ Giancola. “There have been a lot of great wrestlers to come through this program. This record puts him at the top of the list.”
McDougald has been in the Wolverines’ lineup since 7th grade and already owns a number of program records. Willie is a two-time Eastern States place winner, four-time Section VI champion, a three-time NYS place winner, and won a NYS title in the 2017-2018 season. Willie has also served as the team captain for the last three seasons. Currently, McDougald’s record sits at 211 wins to only seventeen career losses.
