Eli McKown | Des Moines Register

IOWA CITY — Iowa wrestling 157-pounder Jordan Williams announced his intention to enter the transfer portal on Tuesday, March 31.

While the transfer portal does not officially open until April 1, the Tulsa, Oklahoma native announced his intentions on Instagram the night before he could officially enter the portal. In his lone year at Iowa after transferring from Little Rock, Williams owned an 8-7 record and did not make the postseason lineup.

Williams’ highlight as a Hawkeye came with his Soldier Salute title in early January, but he went on to finish the year with just one win in his final six duals and a five-match losing streak. Victor Voinovich earned the starting job at 157 pounds for the postseason, but Voinovich fell short of qualifying for the NCAA Championships.

Iowa wrestling coach Tom Brands said the decision at 157 pounds was very close before the postseason.

“Very close, it’s my call,” Brands said ahead of the Big Ten Championships. “We went with Voinovich for maybe one reason. And that one reason is, a little bit more fight there, maybe. Other than that, pretty even.”

A two-time NCAA qualifier at 149 pounds, once at Oklahoma State and once at Little Rock, Williams will again be on the market. A three-time Fargo champion, a Super 32 champion and a three-time Oklahoma State champion with an extensive offensive toolkit, he can be an NCAA All-American if he can find consistency. He’ll have one year of eligibility remaining.

As for Iowa, it’ll be looking internally and could search externally in the transfer portal to find better production at the weight. Aside from 157 pounds, they qualified nine other weights at the 2026 NCAA Championships and had seven total All-Americans. The last All-American for Iowa at 157 pounds was Jared Franek in 2024.

Iowa has been no stranger to transfer portal activity in past seasons. After a tough regular season and a feel-good fourth-place finish at NCAAs, they project to be busy once again in the coming days.