Rear Admiral William J. McDaniel was a five-time Navy wrestling champion and from 1972 to 1976 he won either a gold or silver medal in freestyle and Greco-Roman at the United States Interservice Wrestling Championships from 1972 to 1976. McDaniel, who competed in the United States Olympic Trials in 1968, won a silver medal in freestyle at the CISM Military World Games in 1974. An Oklahoma state champion for Blackwell High School in 1960, he won Oklahoma AAU championships in 1961 and 1968. A varsity wrestler for Oklahoma State, he earned a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1964 and received his M.D. from the University of Oklahoma in 1969. The 32-year naval veteran was team physician for the United States wrestling team at the 1984 Olympics and worked several world championships. He remained involved with Olympic medical care through 2000 and worked the world track and field championships in 1976, the world basketball championships in 1978 and the world cycling championships in 1986. McDaniel was head physician for the National Sports Festival in 1982 and 1983 and was a member of the United States Olympic Committee from 1996 to 2000. In 2001, McDaniel served as Johns Hopkins University’s liaison to the federal government after the September 11th attacks. He led Naval Hospital Ship USNS Mercy in its tsunami relief efforts in Indonesia in 2005 and was also part of Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. McDaniel was inducted into the Oklahoma State University Hall of Fame in 1994 and into the Blackwell Hall of Fame in 2006.