In the 1950 British Empire Games in Auckland, Mudgway won the gold medal for wrestling in the bantamweight (57 kg) division.

Mudgway started wrestling at an early age and won several New Zealand national titles.

He married Margaret Shearman, who later became the first woman executive committee member and later the first female vice-president of the New Zealand Wrestling Association.

They had three sons — John, David and Paul — who all wrestled and had varying degrees of success.

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