Hamiti Is Having Special Season and He Had Larger Team Influence Last Time Out
STILLWATER – The “blackout” crowd of 8,257 fans were seeing something they hadn’t seen all season. Oklahoma State losing by a fall at 125 pounds and then losing again at 149 pounds by decision and then No. 3 Peyton Hall of West Virginia held off No. 6 Cameron Amine trying for an upset and the Mountaineers led 12-11 on the team scoreboard when 174 pounder Dean Hamiti Jr. took the mat against No. 29 Brody Conley.
So, was Hamiti thinking how he needed to pour it on?
“No, I think it’s wrestling and anything can happen in there,” Hamiti said of the team trailing for the first time this season when he took the mat on Sunday. “I’m not going to wrestle differently because we’re behind. I’m going to wrestle the same way every single match.”
He has done that this season. Enough that his match results all have one thing in common, Hamiti Jr. wins! He could do one of thos personal injury lawyer ads, Hamiti wins! he does. Against WVU it was a 19-3 technical fall that put Oklahoma State up for good. It was his sixth tech fall of the campaign, He has two pins and and three major decisions in a 14-0 season thus far. He usually takes the mat with Oklahoma State comfortably ahead.
“I’m sure we would prefer to blow out every team, but that isn’t realistic,” Hamiti added. “We know there are going to be challenges throughout the year and it was good to have that experience but you can’t really think about that very much.”
Hamiti is a cool customer most of the time. The Joliet, Illinois native that transferred to OSU from Wisconsin was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, won the Big Ten Championship and had his second of two straight sixth-place finishes at the NCAA Championships. His junior season he finished second in the Big Ten Tournament and just missed All-American status at the NCAA Tournament.
He is cool, most of the time. In his 8-4 decision last week on Monday against Matty Singleton of North Carolina State there was some postmatch discussion. Singleton had hit Hamiti Jr. in the head and wanted more.
“You want to naturally retaliate, but it’s not really worth it. You need to stay composed and the match was over,” Hamiti said.
The blood runs hot in Hamiti Jr. His 14-0 record and rising ranking is a product of his desire to make this senior season special. The climate that head coach David Taylor promised him would exist does, and it is making Hamiti Jr. better.
“When everybody is wrestling hard it is great compete with each other to see who can score the most points,” he added. “It sets us up well.”