The lighter weights have historically been the strength of Iowa teams during the Tom Brands era -- 24 of Iowa's NCAA finalist appearances since 2007 have been at 125-149, versus just nine NCAA finalist appearances at 157-285 over that span of time. That script was flipped a bit in 2024-25, as outside of Drake Ayala at 133, the strongest part of Iowa's team was in the middle and upper weights, headlined by Stephen Buchanan's NCAA championship at 197 lbs.
The Hawkeyes are hitting the transfer portal to try and address some of those shortcoming at the lighter weights and the first dominos to fall came on Saturday, as Little Rock wrestlers Nasir Bailey and Jordan Williams jointly announced that they were transferring to Iowa out of the portal.
Bailey is a two-time NCAA qualifier and one-time All-American who went a combined 52-9 at 133 lbs in two seasons at Little Rock. Last year, Bailey went 24-2 in the regular season and earned a 7-seed at the NCAA Tournament.
After defeating Missouri's Kade Moore and Virginia's Marlon Yarbrough in the first two rounds last season, Bailey lost to Lehigh's Ryan Crookham in the quarterfinals, 4-2. In the consolation bracket, Bailey won three straight matches, including wins over NC State's Kai Orine (the 3-seed) and Michigan's Dylan Ragusin (the 5-seed), before losing to Crookham again (4-3 this time) in the 3rd place match.
This season, Bailey went 21-3 in the regular season and earned a 3-seed in the 133 lb bracket, setting up a potential semifinal showdown with Iowa's Drake Ayala (the 2-seed). That match didn't happen, though, because Bailey was upset by 14-seed Zan Fugitt of Wisconsin in the second round, losing 4-1 in sudden victory. Bailey then went 1-1 in the consolation bracket, getting upset by Iowa State's Evan Frost (the 11-seed) in the round of 12/blood round, 5-3.
Speaking of Ayala... given that Iowa has the NCAA runner-up at 133 lbs in Ayala, Bailey's Iowa future is probably at a different weight. That ought to work out fine, though -- Bailey was already a bigger 133er, so transitioning to 141 lbs would make sense. That's also a massive need weight for Iowa, given that the Hawkeyes failed to even qualify a wrestler for the NCAA Tournament at that weight this season. Bailey, who has two years of eligibility remaining, should provide a much-needed boost at that weight for the next few seasons.
Bailey spent the prior two seasons at Little Rock, but his friend, teammate and fellow transfer Jordan Williams was only there for the 2024-25 season. Williams began his college wrestling career at Oklahoma State in 2022-23. He redshirted that year and then went 18-9 as a redshirt freshman in 2023-24, going 2-2 at the NCAA Tournament and ending his run in the Round of 16.
Williams was dismissed from the Oklahoma State program after the 2024 season following an offseason arrest. At the time he was arrested and charged with public intoxication and malicious injury to property (for damaging a golf cart window), both misdemeanor offenses. He spent the last year in Little Rock getting his life back together.
After transferring to Little Rock, Williams went 24-4 overall in the regular season, earning an 8-seed at 149 lbs. Williams won his first two matches at the NCAA Tournament, including a 10-3 win over 9-seed Cross Wasilewski in the second round, before losing to top seed Caleb Henson 8-5 in sudden victory in the quarterfinals. Williams then dropped a 5-0 decision to Rider's Sammy Alvarez (the 11-seed) in the round of 12/blood round, preventing him from earning All-America honors.
Though Williams wasn't able to put it all together during his time at Oklahoma State or Little Rock, he has two years of eligibility remaining and still possesses tremendous ability and can be a definite asset for Iowa at 149 lbs -- or even 157 lbs, potentially. Iowa looked to the transfer portal to fill those weights this past season, adding Arizona State's Kyle Parco (at 149) and Jacori Teemer (at 157); unfortunately, significant injuries prevented those moves from resulting in postseason success.
At 149 and 157, Williams will compete with Miguel Estrada and Victor and Kael Voinovich for a starting job. Estrada, a true freshman, competed at 157 lbs this season, though 149 may be a better weight for him; he went 14-5 overall and 5-5 in attached competition for Iowa, though none of his five losses were by more than three points.
Victor Voinovich, a career 149er, made the Round of 16 as a redshirt freshman at Oklahoma State in 2023 before transferring to Iowa and going 11-6 in all matches in 2023-24. Voinovich did not compete this season while recovering from injury. Kael Voinovich, the younger brother of Victor, redshirted as a freshman this season and went 15-6 against all competition. Victor has one year of eligibility remaining while Kael has four.
While Bailey and Williams represent the beginning of Iowa wrestling's work in the transfer portal this offseason, they likely are not the end of that work. 125 and 197 stand out as other weights where Iowa could seek an immediate impact wrestler via the portal. We'll continue to provide updates on Iowa's transfer portal activity here at Hawkeye Beacon.
