Niagara Falls junior & 2018 New York State champion Willie McDougald earned his fourth straight wrestling All-American finish at the annually held NHSCA High School Nationals in Virginia Beach, VA, March 29th – 31st.
Willie placed 8th in the 138-pound junior bracket which featured over 100 of the best high school juniors from across the country, including twenty individual state champions and three nationally ranked wrestlers.
Over the course of the tournament McDougald posted a 5-3 record against the best that the rest of the country has to offer. The only other wrestler from New York State that McDougald encountered was two-time Section IV champion Drew Witham from Corning HS. In that match Willie was a winner by pin in the second period. Florida 2A state champion Ethan Basile took first place edging out fellow Floridian and nationally ranked Justin Rivera in the final, 5-2.
In the wrestlebacks, Willie edged out Pennsylvania’s Steve Storm by a score of 4-3 to guarantee an All-American placement. In the 7th place match, Willie fell by a close 3-2 margin to New Jersey’s Jack Pendergast.
“We are really proud of his accomplishment. That was a stacked bracket and he wrestled a great tournament…that is no small accomplishment,” said Niagara Falls head coach DJ Giancola on McDougald’s fourth straight All-American finish. “It’s great to see that he continues to challenge himself by wrestling the best competition.”
Niagara Wheatfield brothers Justin and Warren McDougald and Lancaster’s Ryan Stencel also competed at the ‘Virginia Beach’ Nationals last weekend. Warren competed in the senior 152-pound division, posting a 2-2 record. Justin wrestled in the 145-pound junior bracket and finished with a 4-2 record but just out of reach of a placement match. Stencel competed in the 160-pound junior division and finished up the weekend with a 2-2 record.
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