Wyatt Voelker has been a hunter most of his life. But last spring, he got a chance to go bear hunting for the first time, thanks to an invitation from Dylan Carew, his former club coach of the appropriately-named Big Game Wrestling Club.

“I killed a really big bear,” recalled this 22-year-old on his adventure in Canada. “It was one of the most exciting hunts that I have ever done.”

The timing also couldn’t have been more perfect for Voelker, who had just finished his sophomore season wrestling for the University of Northern Iowa. Because this was about the time the Panther made the decision to move up from 197 pounds and go after bigger game on the wrestling mat by moving up to heavyweight for the 2025-26 season.

“I said, ‘Let’s wait and see what your weight does and how your lifting goes and how you feel,’” recalled his college coach Doug Schwab after talking to Voelker in April. “A month later, he was up to 225 pounds and he said, ‘I think this can work.’”

Of course, the proof will be in the pudding for Voelker, who grew up an hour east of Cedar Falls in Manchester, Iowa — where he was a two-time Iowa state champion and also played football for West Delaware High School — before also qualifying for the past two NCAA tournaments at 197 pounds.

Voelker was successful at that weight; going 47-14 in his career, including a combined 5-4 mark at the past two national tournaments. That included going 3-2 as a #7 seed last March when the Big 12 champion just missed All-American honors by losing in the bloodround. This was also the time when he noticed the weight cut was becoming tougher and affecting his wrestling.

“I’ve had some dings ever since I came to college, things that would take me out for weeks at a time and I think part of that was cutting down to 197,” he said,

But it’s not hard to see a happier Voelker and one reason is that he no longer worries about making weight.

“This has made wrestling so much more fun,” said Voelker, who expects to weigh about 250 pounds this season. “I used to always be thinking about my weight. Now I can be free.”

Voelker has wrestled at a heavier weight in the past, especially while representing the United States at the U23 World Championships in Greco-Roman wrestling at 97 kilos (213 pounds) before the start of the 2024-25 season. Injuries from the college season prevented Voelker from competing in that style last summer.

The Panther credits UNI strength coaches Jed Smith and Justin Peine for turning his body into a Division I heavyweight wrestler and UNI trainer Frank Baker to make sure his body stays healthy. He jokes that his current size surprises many of his family and friends — as well as himself when he looks at the mirror.

“I still feel like I’m back in the body that I was in March. But I know that I’m a lot bigger. My legs and rear have grown a lot bigger. My core, neck, chest and arms have all gotten bigger,” said Voelker, one of three sons born to Corey and Jenne Voelker.  (Wyatt, no relation to Eric Voelker, the NCAA champ from Iowa State in the 1980s, added that he is bigger than his father and brothers and learned the sport from his mother’s family.)

“It’s funny when I go home and see my parents, their reaction is, ‘Oh my God, you look like a different person.’ I don’t see that, but I’ve definitely grown and put some strength on.”

Wyatt, a pre-chiropractic and kinesiology major, also knows that it will take more than bigger muscles for him to compete against men who could still weigh 30 more pounds than him in the weight class with 285-pound limit.

“At the end of the day, wrestling is still wrestling,” he said. “There are a lot of the same positions, and for me, it’s getting to my best positions, which have not changed much. I am super comfortable in ankle scrambles and I think that favors me even more against big guys. 

“I think I will still wrestle similar to a 197-pounder and still be very comfortable in those positions. Bottom and top wrestling changes a little bit. There is a little more wear on the bottom. You don’t want a guy weighing 270 bearing down on you, knowing that I’m going to be about 250.

“I have to be able to get off the bottom quick and do some hand fighting. Their arms are going to be bigger and it’s going to take more to get through and around (their arms). It’s going to take more effort.”

Schwab said a wrestler doesn’t have to be big to believe that he is big on the wrestling mat.

‘You’ve got to be the big man even if you are a 125-pounder,” he said. “So much depends on your mindset and buying into the idea and taking ownership of it and declare it is going to be my weight class. (Wyatt) got all-in on it and that’s the biggest thing.” 

Also, Schwab has had several other wrestlers in the past make the move to heavyweight. 

“They trust and believe in (the idea) and say this is going to be my weight class,” he added. “The more Wyatt gets to wrestle and the more he feels those bodies, the better off he is going to be. He’s still moving well and that was my biggest concern. He’s athletic and want to make sure he moves and picks up his feet. Watching him this fall, you can see he’s getting more confident and understands that he can use his speed.”

Voelker credits the success Kyle Snyder, the current World and Olympic freestyle champion at 97 kilos, who also won three NCAA titles at Ohio State, including 2016 when he moved up to heavyweight. Voelker added that the heavyweight class has become more athletic in the past decade.

“The landscape of heavyweight has changed and I think Kyle Snyder changed it a lot where you didn’t need to be almost 280 pounds to win an NCAA title,” Voelker said. “Kyle was like 220 and beating guys that were a full 285 pounds.”

Voelker is one of several college wrestlers who have also moved up to heavyweight. That includes Nebraska’s A.J. Ferrari, who finished third at 197 last March for CSU Bakersfield, before moving to Lincoln, where he is ranked #1 at heavyweight by Flowrestling.

Voelker is scheduled to face Ferrari when the teams meet in a dual meet on Jan. 3.

“I think it will be a super exciting match and he’s a great competitor,” Voelker said. “I did not get a chance to wrestle him last year at 197.  I’m very excited for that dual. I have that date circled.”

Voelker, ranked #10 by Flo in its preseason rankings, knows he might have been ranked higher had he stayed at 197 pounds. But advice from Schwab keeps All-American goals in the back of Voelker’s mind.

“Doug will say, ‘Stop competing with the national rankings, but compete with yourself every day and be the best version of yourself every day,” Voelker said. “I truly believe that will happen at heavyweight this year.”