All-American Bailey Among New Entries in Transfer Portal

We keep getting transfer portal-related news today! The latest notable wrestler to enter the portal is 2024 NCAA third-place finisher Nasir Bailey. Bailey was the first wrestler in Little Rock program history to make the NCAA podium after beating Kurt Phipps (Bucknell) 3-0 in the 2024 bloodround. A few matches later, he was joined by teammate Stephen Little. The pair were instrumental in a 19th place finish for the Trojans. 

This year, Bailey was seeded third at the NCAA Championships, but ended up going 2-2 and missed the podium. He had close wins over Derrick Cardinal and Tyler Ferrara, but lost to Zan Fugitt in the Round of 16 and Evan Frost in the consolations. 

Also in the 2024-25 season, Bailey was selected to participate in the 2024 NWCA All-Star Classic and lost a close bout to the eventual national champion Lucas Byrd. Bailey ended up winning his second Pac-12 title with an overtime win over Cal Poly’s Zeth Romney. It was his second win over the eventual NCAA third-place finisher. 

Joining Bailey in the portal is his Little Rock teammate Jordan Williams. Like Bailey, Williams was a Pac-12 champion in 2025. Also like Bailey, Williams defeated an eventual All-American in the Pac-12 finals. He majored Oregon State’s Ethan Stiles, who ended up taking sixth in Philly. At NCAA’s, Williams was the eighth seed and pushed the top-seeded, returning national champion, Caleb Henson, into sudden victory before falling. Williams would lose 5-0 to Sammy Alvarez (Rider) in the bloodround. 

Outside of Little Rock, we also have learned that Cody Chittum is now in the portal. He’s one of a number of notable Iowa State wrestlers in the portal (Kysen Terukina, Christian Carroll, Zach Redding, and Casey Swiderski). Chittum is fresh off a 2-2 showing at his second NCAA Tournament. Chittum was seeded 16th and earned a win before falling to top-seeded Tyler Kasak. He picked up another consolation victory, before getting eliminated by Minnesota’s Tommy Askey. Through two years at Iowa State, Chittum is 36-15 overall. This year he was sixth at the Big 12 Championships and last season he was a conference runner-up. 

Keep checking InterMat all spring and summer as the transfer news will continue to develop.