Victor Voinovich announces transfer from Oklahoma State to Iowa Hawkeyes wrestling program

The Iowa wrestling program added a middleweight hammer through the transfer portal on Monday, as Victor Voinovich plans to join the Hawkeyes after two years at Oklahoma State.

"Go Hawks!" Voinovich, an NCAA qualifier at 149 pounds this past season, wrote in multiple social media posts announcing his decision. He has three years of eligibility remaining.

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As a redshirt freshman this past season, Voinovich went 17-13, with 10 losses by a two points or fewer, and reached the Round-of-16 at the NCAA Championships. While redshirting in 2021-22, he went 16-1, won three open tournaments, and finished third at the Southern Scuffle.

The Ohio native joined the Cowboys after a stellar prep career at Brecksville, where he went 148-16 and won a pair of state titles. He twice won FloWrestling's Who's Number One event, in 2019 and 2020. He also finished second at the Junior men's freestyle national championships in 2019.

Voinovich will also bring international experience to the Iowa room. In 2021, he repped Serbia at the Junior European Championships, where he went 2-2 and took fifth at 70 kilograms (154 pounds). He also repped Serbia at the Junior world championships that summer.

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The Hawkeyes had Max Murin at 149 pounds each of the last three seasons. The Pennsylvania native wrapped up his Iowa career as an All-American last March, finishing sixth to cap a 25-7 sixth-year senior campaign — which included a 4-3 win over Voinovich in February.

Voinovich and Caleb Rathjen figure to be the in-house leaders to replace Murin in Iowa's starting lineup next season. Cody Chittum may also be in the mix unless he decides to go 157 and challenge Cobe Siebrecht, who went 14-8 and qualified for the NCAA Championships this past season.

Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.