‘I am very, very lucky’: Catawba County man wins $100K lottery prize

CATAWBA COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — William Wheeler, of Newton, plans to share his lottery winnings with his family after a $50 scratch-off delivered a $100,000 prize.

“I’ll just give the money to my wife and let her figure out what to do with it,” Wheeler laughed. “Whatever she decides is fine with me.”

He bought his lucky $8 Million Money Maker ticket from Fast Phil’s on Turnersburg Highway in Statesville.

“When I told my wife how much I won, she was even more excited than me,” he recalled. 

Wheeler said he has won some nice prizes before but never this big.

“I am very, very lucky,” he said.

Wheeler arrived at lottery headquarters Tuesday to collect his prize and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $71,764.

He said his wife will likely share some of their winnings with their three daughters.

The $8 Million Money Maker game debuted in December with five $8 million top prizes and 10 $100,000 prizes. Three $8 million prizes and six $100,000 prizes remain to be claimed.