Wrestlers · Career complete
Iris Smith
2005 World champion at 72 kg; fourth U.S. woman to win a World title; 2010 World Military champion
Albany, GA
By Joe Spisak, Pennsylvania state champion and 4x NCAA qualifier at Virginia · Published September 24, 2026
Iris Smith is from Albany, Georgia. She started wrestling in Albany, where she wrestled on a boys' varsity team. She placed seventh at the 2000 World Championships. She made the U.S. team again in 2001 but missed those championships to attend Army basic training.
In 2005 she was a sergeant in the Army World Class Athlete Program at Fort Carson, Colorado. That May she won her fourth U.S. Nationals title in Las Vegas, pinning Ali Bernard of the University of Regina in the final. She took a bronze medal at the World Cup in France. In June she won the World Team Trials in Ames, Iowa, beating Bernard again.
At the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, she wrestled at 72 kg, or 158.5 pounds. She beat Stanka Zlateva of Bulgaria, Agnieszka Wieszczek of Poland and Anita Schaetzle of Germany. In the final on September 30 she beat five-time World champion Kyoko Hamaguchi of Japan 3-1, 1-1, 1-0. It was the only gold medal the United States won there in any style. She was the fourth U.S. woman to win a World title, after Tricia Saunders, Kristie Marano and Sandra Bacher.
In 2009 she won the Sunkist Kids International Open, beating Stephany Lee of the Sunkist Kids in the final, and the NYAC International Open. In August 2010 the World Military Championships in Lahti, Finland, held women's wrestling for the first time. She won 72 kg there, beating Wieszczek.
She placed third at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials. That year she won the Women's World Team Wrestle-Off at 72 kg over Julia Salata of the New York AC. At the World Championships in Strathcona County, Canada, Oksana Vashchuk of Ukraine beat her 3-0, 1-0. In 2014 she was second at the U.S. Open at 75 kg. She wrestled at 69 kg at the 2016 Olympic Team Trials.
She is the 2005 name on USA Wrestling's list of Women's Wrestler of the Year winners, an award Helen Maroulis received for 2025 at Final X in 2026.
Results
| Season | Level | Event | Weight | Place | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Senior | World Championships | 7th | Her first World Championships for the United States. The cited pages do not give her weight class there. | |
| 2005 | Senior | U.S. Nationals, Las Vegas | 72 kg | 1st | Her fourth U.S. Nationals title. She pinned Ali Bernard in the second period of the final. |
| 2005 | Senior | World Team Trials, Ames, Iowa | 72 kg | 1st | Beat Ali Bernard in the Championship Series. Her third career World Team Trials win. |
| 2005 | Senior | World Championships, Budapest | 72 kg | 1st | 4-0. Beat Stanka Zlateva of Bulgaria 3-1, 1-0, Agnieszka Wieszczek of Poland 2-0, 6-0 and Anita Schaetzle of Germany 3-1, 2-0, then five-time World champion Kyoko Hamaguchi of Japan 3-1, 1-1, 1-0 in the final on September 30. The only U.S. gold medal at the championships in any style. |
| 2008 | Senior | U.S. Olympic Team Trials | 72 kg | 1-2. Beat Jenna Pavlik of the New York AC 4-0, 3-0 in the Challenge quarterfinal, then lost to Kristie Marano of the New York AC in the semifinal and to Stephany Lee of the Sunkist Kids. Her final placing is not shown. | |
| 2008 | Senior | Women's World Team Trials | 72 kg | 2nd | Pinned Katie Crouch of the USOEC and beat Erin Clodgo of the USOEC 5-0, 2-0 in the Challenge, then lost the Final Trial series to Stephany Lee in two bouts. |
| 2009 | Senior | Sunkist Kids International Open | 72 kg | 1st | 2-0. Pinned Pamela Wilson of Canada in the semifinal and beat Stephany Lee 2-0, 0-3, 2-1 in the final. |
| 2009 | Senior | NYAC International Open | 72 kg | 1st | 3-0. Beat Emma Chalmers of Australia, Ali Bernard in the semifinal and Svetlana Saenko of Ukraine 3-0, 2-1 in the final. |
| 2010 | Senior | Dave Schultz Memorial International | 72 kg | 2nd | 2-1. Beat Eva-Maria Maierhofer of Austria and Yan Hong of China, then lost the final to Dan Li of China. |
| 2010 | Senior | World Military Championships, Lahti, Finland | 72 kg | 1st | 3-0. The first year the championships included women's wrestling. Beat Lijun Yang of China, Agnieszka Wieszczek of Poland 1-0, 1-0, and Volha Khilko of Belarus 3-0, 5-3. |
| 2012 | Senior | U.S. Olympic Trials | 72 kg | 3rd | 3-1. Reached the Challenge final, which Stephany Lee won 4-2, 2-0, then beat Kristie Davis 1-0, 0-4, 1-0 in the match for third. |
| 2012 | Senior | Women's World Team Wrestle-Off | 72 kg | 1st | 3-0. Beat Melissa Simmons in the semifinal and Julia Salata of the New York AC in two straight bouts in the final series. |
| 2012 | Senior | World Championships, Strathcona County, Canada | 72 kg | Lost to Oksana Vashchuk of Ukraine 3-0, 1-0. The cited pages do not give her final placing. | |
| 2014 | Senior | U.S. Open, Las Vegas | 75 kg | 2nd | 2-1. Beat Lorrie Ramos 10-0 and Julia Salata 12-4, then lost the final to Jackie Cataline of Titan Mercury. |
What we could not confirm
Anything not on this page, a high school record, a final score, a season, was left out because no primary source stated it when this was written. If you have a bracket, a program, or a clipping, send it to the operator, Joe Spisak, at joe@spisak.co and the page gets the number.
Sources
- https://www.themat.com/news/2006/april/14/smith-named-2005-usa-wrestling-14402 · USA Wrestling, April 14, 2006. Iris Smith of the U.S. Army was named the 2005 Women's Wrestler of the Year after winning the 72 kg World title in Budapest on September 30, the only U.S. gold at those championships. She became only the fourth U.S. women's wrestler to win a World title, was seventh at the 2000 Worlds, won the 2005 World Team Trials and her fourth U.S. Nationals title, and took a bronze at the 2005 World Cup. She is originally from Albany, Georgia.
- https://www.themat.com/news/2006/february/08/world-champion-iris-smith-wins-14029 · USA Wrestling, February 8, 2006. World champion Iris Smith, a sergeant in the U.S. Army based at Fort Carson, Colorado, and a member of the Army's World Class Athlete Program, won a Sportswomen of Colorado award.
- https://www.dvidshub.net/news/536998/army-wrestler-wins-world-championship · Tim Hipps for the American Forces Press Service, October 2005, on DVIDS. Smith became the fourth U.S. woman to win a World title, joining Tricia Saunders, Kristie Marano and Sandra Bacher. She wrestled on a boys' varsity team in Albany, Georgia, and made the 2001 World Team but missed the championships for Army basic training.
- https://www.army.mil/article/44077/smith_leads_u_s_women_to_impressive_debut · Tim Hipps, Army.mil, August 20, 2010. Sgt. Iris Smith won 72 kg at the 27th World Military Wrestling Championships in Lahti, Finland, the first year the event included women's wrestling, beating Lijun Yang, Agnieszka Wieszczek and Volha Khilko.
- https://www.armywcap.com/soldier-athletes/olympic-sports/wrestling/ssg-iris-smith · U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program profile. SSG Iris Smith, hometown Albany, Georgia, joined the Army in October 2001, and the program lists her as the 2010 Military World champion and 2005 World champion.
- https://nwhof.org/news/helen-maroulis-named-2025-usa-wrestling-women-s-wrestler-of-the-year · USA Wrestling, 2026, on the National Wrestling Hall of Fame site. The list of USA Wrestling Women's Wrestler of the Year winners names Iris Smith of the U.S. Army for 2005 and Helen Maroulis for 2025.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE317PlItz0 · USA Wrestling video, September 2012. Oksana Vashchuk of Ukraine beat Iris Smith 3-0, 1-0 at 72 kg at the 2012 Women's World Championships in Strathcona County, Canada.
- https://usawrestlingevents.com/results/779?query=Iris+Smith · USA Wrestling results, 2008 Olympic Team Trials. Her three bouts in the 72 kg Challenge tournament.
- https://usawrestlingevents.com/results/799?query=Iris+Smith · USA Wrestling results, 2008 Women's World Team Trials. She won two Challenge bouts at 72 kg and lost the Final Trial series to Stephany Lee.
- https://usawrestlingevents.com/results/668?query=Iris+Smith · USA Wrestling results, 2009 Sunkist Kids International Open. She won 72 kg over Stephany Lee in the final.
- https://usawrestlingevents.com/results/671?query=Iris+Smith · USA Wrestling results, 2009 NYAC International Open. She won 72 kg over Svetlana Saenko of Ukraine in the final.
- https://usawrestlingevents.com/results/672?query=Iris+Smith · USA Wrestling results, 2010 Dave Schultz Memorial International. Dan Li of China won the 72 kg final over Iris Smith.
- https://usawrestlingevents.com/results/525?query=Iris+Smith · USA Wrestling results, 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials. She reached the 72 kg Challenge final and won the match for third.
- https://usawrestlingevents.com/results/573?query=Iris+Smith · USA Wrestling results, 2012 Women's World Team Wrestle-Off. She won the 72 kg final series over Julia Salata.
- https://usawrestlingevents.com/results/1016?query=Iris+Smith · USA Wrestling results, 2014 U.S. Open. Jackie Cataline won the 75 kg final over Iris Smith.
- https://usawrestlingevents.com/results/1135?query=Iris+Smith · USA Wrestling results, 2016 Olympic Team Trials. Iris Smith wrestled in the 69 kg Challenge tournament.
- https://usawrestlingevents.com/results?query=Women%60s+World+Team+Trials · USA Wrestling results database, event listing. The Women's World Team Trials results of event 799 are dated 09/20/2008.
- https://usawrestlingevents.com/results?query=USA+Wrestling+Olympic+Team+Trials · USA Wrestling results database, event listing. The USA Wrestling Olympic Team Trials results are dated 06/15/2008 (event 779).
- https://usawrestlingevents.com/results?query=NYAC+International · USA Wrestling results database, event listing. The NYAC International Open results are dated 11/22/2009 (event 671).
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