[2] He won ten U.S. national, three consecutive NCAA (1996–1998) and two Pan American Games titles (1999 and 2003), scored two bronze medals in the 74 and 76-kg division at the World Championships (2001 and 2005), and finished fifth at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

[4] From there, he won four-straight Illinois state wrestling titles, and finished high school with an impressive 152–1 overall record, including 95 career falls and a single violation from an illegal slam on his freshman season.

[9] On that same year, Williams dominated the field by edging out Cuba's Yosmany Romero for his first career gold medal at the Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

[11] He also campaigned for his men's middleweight title defense at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and then captured two bronze medals in the same category at the World Championships (2001 and 2005).

[14][15] Williams opened his match by thrashing Georgia's Gela Saghirashvili (5–1), and then stunned 2002 world champion Mehdi Hajizadeh of Iran with an impressive 7–5 verdict to lead the prelim pool and secure a place in the next round.

Williams' dazing defeat from Laliyev set up a fifth-place match against Belarus' Murad Haidarau, who was immediately disqualified by the officials for an off-mat skirmish with quarterfinal opponent and eventual Olympic champion Buvaisar Saitiev of Russia.

[17][18] Shortly after the Games, Williams compensated for his Olympic defeat with a bronze-medal effort at the 2005 World Wrestling Championships in Budapest, Hungary, and then defended his fifth straight title in the U.S.