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2004 Olympic Team Member
6X U.S. National Freestyle Champion
5X World Team Member
2X World Bronze Medalist
4X World Cup Champion
3X NCAA Division I National Champion
2X NCAA Big Ten Champion
10X Midlands Champion
4x Illinois High School State Champion
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| Biography |
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Weight: 162.8 lbs (74 KG)
Height: 5'8"
Years On Team USA: 6
Residence: Ames, IA
Club: Sunkist Kids
College: University of Iowa
Degrees: (BA, 1998) Sociology & Communication Studies
Minor: Human Relations
High School: Chicago Mt. Carmel
Born: November 26, 1974
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I started wrestling when I was 8 years old in third grade for the Harvey Twisters wrestling club. I wasn’t good at first because I never liked to listen to my coaches. In sixth grade I finally started to come around and a little success started to come into my life. I won my first Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation (IKWF) State title. After having a little success, I resorted back to not listening and ended up placing second in seventh grade. That summer I trained and made a promise to myself that I would always listen to my coaches because they knew what they were talking about. So, in eighth grade I won my second IKWF State title and started training for high school.
Before going into high school my grade school coach Quintroy Harrell told me that I could be the next four time Illinois State Champion. He told me that there wasn’t anyone out there that could beat me, except for myself. I believed in him and if he believed that I could accomplish that, then I believed it. Success started to come fast at the high school level, but then I lost one match my freshman year. I was winning the match 12-2 before slamming my opponent to the mat and being disqualified from the match. Quintroy was there and he said, remember what I told you, “Nobody can beat you but yourself”. Now it's time to concentrate on the remainder of the season, you can still be a 4-time state champ.
With the help of my grade school and my high school coach Bill Weick, I was able to refocus and win 4 Illinois State Championship Titles and end my high school career 171-1. Before going into college both of my coaches had all the faith and confidence in the world in me that I would continue with the same amount of success. So, I set my goals on being a 4-time collegiate NCAA Champion.
Coached by Dan Gable and Jim Zalesky, I didn’t reach my goal as being a 4-time NCAA Champion, so I changed my goals and tried for the next best thing. I became a 3-time NCAA Champion for the University Of Iowa. I ended my collegiate career 129-9 and earned a BA in Sociology and Communication Studies in 1998. After ending my collegiate career, I took a year off to get mentally ready to pursue my goals as being an Olympic and World Gold medalist.
In 2001 I was hired to serve as the Strength and Conditioning Coach at the University of Iowa, and later promoted to Assistant Coach in 2002. Working closely with Jim Zalesky and Tom Brands, I learned the importance of getting individual team members ready to peak for big competition.
After having a disappointing 2000 Olympic Trials outcome, I decided to take some time off to get refocused for my next Olympic opportunity. I married Kim Vinton, my girlfriend of 5 ½ years, and on March 17, 2002, we had our first child, Kaleb Joseph Williams, who weighed 7 lbs 5 ½ oz and measured 19 ½ inches long . We were blessed with another son, Wyatt Steven, on April 10, 2005. - View Family Photos
Determined not to repeat a third place finish at this year’s Olympic Team Trials, I resigned my position at Iowa in February 2004 to focus and train full-time for the 2004 Olympics Games in Athens, Greece.
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