Senior Day, Final Home Dual, Cowboys and Taylor Get Their 10,000 and Smashing Win

STILLWATER – Oklahoma State and first-year head coach David Taylor wanted a crowd of over 10,000 and a blowout win over Missouri on Senior Day. They ended up with both as the crowd ballooned to 10,700 causing the curtain on the east and west sides of Gallagher-Iba to be raised to the rafters for the first time this season for wrestling. Oklahoma State and Taylor had crowds of over 8,000 for the last three home duals and every home crowd this season topped 6,000. It all added up to 7,957 for the record breaking average attendance for the 2024-25 season. The Pokes got their blowout as well, but it took a little time. When the big boys in the OSU lineup had their say, Oklahoma State had a 36-3 win. 

“I’m proud of the guys and the way they are wrestling. I’m so grateful for the fans,” Taylor said to the media afterwards. “We talked about what Oklahoma State wrestling means to this country, to Oklahoma and the surrounding states. We are starting to see that, highest average attendance os in program history and we finish with one of the largest crowds in school history. It is great momentum.”

The fireworks started at 174 pounds and why not with unbeaten Dean Hamiti Jr. Oklahoma State led 16-3 having won all but one match with one major decision by 125 pound Troy Spratley. Hamiti Jr. came out and used his single leg shot to a trip for three separate takedowns. At theend of the first period, after his third takedown, Hamiti Jr. put fill in for top-ranked Keegan O’Toole (11-0) of Missouri on his back twice, the second time it took for four near fall points. Hamiti Jr. had 2:26 in riding time and destroyed the Missouri backup for a 19-4 tech fall and a 21-3 Oklahoma State lead. 

“He’s just relentless,” Taylor said of Hamiti Jr. “You talk about the way wrestling should be done and he is a good representation of that. Just the trust he has developed. You know the Viriginia Tech match was big. He didn’t want to cut guys as much because he is so good wrestling on top but in a short time he got that takedown and now he looks over all the time. It’s an art to dominate guys. It can be a different formula every time. He is starting to get a feel for it.”

Senior 184 pound Dustin Plott was on his way to a tech fall as well when Aedon Sinclair got a third period takedown to disprupt the rhythm that Plott had going by simply tackling his opponent and throwing him on the mat for repeated takedowns. Plott finished with an 18-7 major decision and the Cowboys led 25-3.

The big boy Cowboys kept making it worse on the Tigers as fellow senior and No. 7 Luke Surber had his way completely with Jesse Cassatt. Surber clebrated his Senior Day with a 22-6 technical fall. 

“It was good. I scored some points and that is something that I’ve been focusing on,” Surber said after his Senior Day technical fall win. “I have good attacks and everything, I just haven’t always hit them. I’m now where I can wrestle in a lot of positions.”

Then the crescendo of the big boys as No. 3 and unbeaten Wyatt Hendrickson heavyweight came out against No. 24 Jarrett Stoner. Hendrickson got a quick takedown and put Stoner on his back, collecting four near fall points. He let Stoner up and came back for a second takedown and this time put Stoner down for good with the pin at 53 seconds in the match. 

“Wyatt is  showman,” Taylor said of his heavyweight. “He wanted to go out on top with a pin and he sacrigiced some positioning there, a lot of positioning but he is scarey in those positions. Wyatt has had a big impact on our program and nobody is leaving their seats before Wyatt wrestles.”

Oklahoma State Athletics

Witcraft does the O-S-U chant after winning.

The first of the Cowboys seniors that was wrestling was Reece Witcraft and he won by decision over unranked Kade Moore of Missouri. Witcraft got the nod in the contentious 133 pound slot as he is a senior. He and local product Cael Hughes have both wrestled there and Hughes, wrestling more lately is ranked No. 21. Witcraft jumped out early with a single leg and took Moore to his back briefly. He ran up riding time to 1:08 in the first period. Witcraft added a bull rush takedown in the second and but was ridden in the third by Moore to knock down riding time. Witcraft got a 6-3 decision. 

The second senior up in the dual for the Cowboys was 157 pound Caleb Fish, the hero of the dual win at Northern Iowa last Friday when he turned the tide, Fish was having a hard time with Missouri’s unranked James Conway. No score in the first and then a trade of escapes to start the second and third periods. Fish came up clutch going down on the mat and grabbing Conway’s leg then moving around behind for control and riding out the third for a 5-1 decision. The Cowboys led 13-3.

Senior number three and No. 6-ranked Cameron Amine starting the upper half of the line up, but Missouri’s No. 15 Cam Steed proved to be a very tough opponent. No score in the first and then Steed strted on top in the second and rode all the way to 1:51 when Amine got a reversal for a 2-0 lead. Steed had riding time. In the third, Amine stayed on top until he knocked the riding time under a minute and Steed escaped. That is the way it ended a 2-1 decision for Amine.

“It’s just a match and I didn’t want to let my emotions get the best of me,” Amine said and he was in a tough match. “I was thinking just be grateful to be out there wrestling in front of 10,000 people. I have to get to my attacks early. It was hard for me to get to my offense because he was staying back.”

Oklahoma State Athletics

Spratley with a takedown.

In the opening match at 125 pounds, No. 4 Troy Spratley continued his resurgence from a brief midseason slump as he opened the first period against Missouri freshman and No. 31-ranked Gary Walker with a single leg that he turned into a fireman’s carry for the takedown. Spratley added a reversal in the second period after starting on bottom and then another takedown and riding time for a 10-1 majord decision. Oklahoma State led 4-0 and Spratley pushed his record on the season to 15-3.

It was a good start to the dual, but give Missouri credit as they wrestled hard and knew that their best opportunities were coming in the lower weights. It also helped with the Cowboys No. 5 Tagen Jamison out with injury. Head coach David taylor did say he expects him to be ready to roll next week.

Freshman Kolter Burton stepped in for Jamison at 141 pounds against Missouri’s No. 14 Josh Edmond. Edmond used a first period takedown and second period reversla after starting on bottom to build a 5-3 lead in the third period. Burton, hungry to show something in front of the huge crowd tried hard, but a shot in the final 30 seconds allowed Edmond to get a takedown and clinch an 11-4 decision.

No. 17 Carter Young had a major decison locked up with three takedowns, a third period escape where he started on bottom, and riding time at 1:16, but a technical violation (locked hands) at the very end of the match bumped it back down to a decision at 11-4. Oklahoma State led 10-3 after 149 pounds.

Oklahoma State goes to 12-0 on the season and 9-0 in the Big 12. They only have two duals left as they will travel to Little Rock next Saturday Feb. 8. They will finish at Iowa with a dual on Feb. 23. The Big 12 Championships aren’t until March 8-9.