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Bella Williams becomes fourth premier recruit in Iowa's 2025 class

by:Tanner Lafever•04/22/25•

TannerLafever

Bella Williams signing post
Bella Williams joins Iowa's 2025 recruiting class as one of the best young wrestlers in America. (Photo Credit: Iowa Women's Wrestling Instagram)

As of four days ago, the Iowa women’s wrestling program hadn’t added to its 2025 recruiting class since before Christmas.

Since then, it’s doubled in size, with a pair of newcomers hopping aboard on either side of the Easter holiday.

The latest of those came on around lunchtime on Monday, as the program announced Bella Williams had officially signed on to become a Hawkeye.

In short, Williams becomes just the latest elite prospect to pledge her future to the Black & Gold.

You want a top tier recruiting ranking? She’s got it.

Williams currently sits eighth overall in the latest pound-for-pound rankings put out by USA Wrestling – and second at 130 pounds.

You want international experience? She checks that box as well – twice winning age-level Pan-American Championships (U23 in 2025 and U17 in 2024).

And how about domestic freestyle credentials?

Titles at Fargo and Who’s Number One – not to mention her 2024 U17 World team membership – would certainly seem to suffice. And earlier this month she reached the finals of not one, but two Women’s Nationals events on the same weekend – finishing runner up in Spokane, Washington in both the U20 and U23 divisions.

In 2024, Williams won the U17 World team trials while competing up at 65 kilograms. (Photo Credit: Bella Williams’ Instagram)

A native of Hawaii, Williams has moved around the continental United States since the age of 10 – finally settling in Oklahoma for most of her high school career, where she won three state titles at Edmond North.

Her past few months have been spent in Denver, Colorado, however, as she took up residence at the US Olympic Training Center as part of the Elite Accelerator Program (EAP).

Now, her home will be in Iowa City.

And not only will Williams arrive with prep accolades aplenty, but she’ll do so as no stranger to competing (successfully) against top collegiate competition.

Getting a head start on the battles ahead

There’s an argument to be made that some brackets at the annual Missouri Valley Open are more difficult to win than their counterparts at the national tournament.

That’s a byproduct of the combined NCAA/NAIA/open entry field. Some of the talent-rich weight classes are as deep as 80-plus athletes.

And still, in back-to-back years Bella Williams has managed to thrive in the environment despite an often-substantial age difference.

In 2023 – then 16 years old – she placed fourth in her bracket at 130 pounds.

A year later she finished runner up.

Between those tournaments, Williams posted a combined record of 11-3 with seven bonus-point victories.

Her only defeat by more than three points came in 2023 (at age 16) against a three-time NAIA national champion.

She also beat a quartet of opponents who were on last year’s Iowa roster – three of whom (Emily Frost, Lilly Luft and Skye Realin) will return in 2025-26.

Will there be adjustments Williams needs to make as a full-time college wrestler/student? Of course.

But the fact that the competition on the mat may not be near the top of her list suggests that this well-traveled teenager may be able to transition to the next level quicker than most.

What to expect

While perhaps not the most explosive athlete on her feet, Williams is exceptionally crafty from a variety of positions.

Trailing late-second period at FloWrestling’s 2024 Who’s Number One event, Williams showed she can go get a winning takedown if needed.

Perhaps the best comparison to draw for Iowa fans is to current Hawkeye Reese Larramendy.

Can she generate her own offense against high-level competition? Absolutely.

But in many instances, she may be at her most dangerous when her opponent takes a shot of their own.

Getting to the legs of a wrestler like Larramendy (or Williams) is only half the battle – if that.

Williams has a similar knack for counter-offense. It’s a skill that’s evident in this highlight reel of a 10-0 tech. fall over a two-time NAIA All-American at last year’s Missouri Valley Open.

The coaching staff at Iowa will certainly want to build upon those strengths once Williams arrives on campus – and I’m sure add a few more tools to her arsenal as well.

Future fit

Williams joins a group of Iowa middleweights that’s short on neither depth nor talent.

Whether she ultimately competes at 131 or 138 pounds she’ll be challenged by multiple teammates for either spot.

One of them could be fellow incoming freshman Samantha Sachs – ranked just behind Williams in their high school class and alongside whom she took her official visit during a packed recruiting weekend last September.

Meanwhile, already on the depth chart are each of the following:

Skye Realin – a two-time All-American (McKendree/Central Methodist) and 2024 U23 World teamer

Lilly Luft – a 2024 All-American and recent U20 World team trials finalist

Cadence Diduch – a 2024 U20 World teamer and recent U20 trials runner up

Emily Frost – 2024 Round of 12 finisher, top-five U20 trials finisher (2023-25), 48-20 career record

I mentioned earlier that Williams has bested several of them (Frost/Luft/Realin) in previous matchups. But just as she’s surely improved since then, so too have her soon-to-be teammates.

Bottom line, it sets up a good ‘problem’ for head coach Clarissa Chun as she seeks to identify her best lineup for next season.

With Williams’ signing, Iowa has now filled 30/30 spots on its (projected) 2025-26 roster – barring any future attrition.

Williams joins the aforementioned Sachs (California), Isabella Gonzales (California) and Saturday commitment Adriana Palumbo (New York) as members of the 2025 recruiting class.

All four rank fifth or better at their respective weights – and all four rank among the top 17 high school seniors in America.

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