Thursday March 28th, 2024 2:18PM

Longtime coach, referee Howington elected to National Wrestling Hall of Fame

Northeast Georgia resident William Howington has been elected to the Georgia Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame for lifetime service to the sport of wrestling.

A long-time coach and educator, who retired from teaching in 2004, Howington has over 40 years in service to wrestling.

Howington was instrumental in maintaining the junior high program at his alma mater, Jefferson, where he was a varsity letterman in football, wrestling, and track. He also mentored and coached present Jefferson wrestling coach Doug Thurmond, himself a Hall of Famer and mulitple state champion.

Howington also founded the wrestling program at Winder-Barrow High in 1979, and coached Dawson County's first team state title in any sport when the Tigers won the GHSA wrestling championship in 1987. Dawson was also runner-up in 1988, and Howington was selected the Class A Wrestling Coach of the Year in '87 and '88.

A veteran educator, Howington also coached football, basketball, track, baseball, and swimming during his career. After retiring from teaching and coaching, Howington continued to referee wrestling matches across northeast Georgia. He also umpires high school softball and rec league baseball. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia in Athens.

"It is a great honor to be elected to the NWHOF," Howington said. "I am very humbled to be chosen. I coached a lot of great kids that contributed to this. I have a lot of people that need to be thanked.

The Class of 2018 will be recognized and formally inducted at a banquet Sunday, May 6. Howington joins previous classes to be enshrined in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

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