Cowboy Wrestling Adds Two-Time All-American Dean Hamiti Jr.

STILLWATER – Two-time All-American Dean Hamiti Jr. has signed with Oklahoma State and joins the Cowboy wrestling program with one year of eligibility remaining, head coach David Taylor announced today.

Hamiti spent the past three years at Wisconsin, where he saw immense success at 165 pounds. Since being inserted into the lineup as a true freshman, Hamiti has qualified for the NCAA Championships in three straight seasons, including sixth-place finishes in 2022 and 2023, and racked up an impressive 81-14 record. He also owns 40 wins over ranked opponents to just 13 losses and has won 42 of his 46 dual matches, while earning bonus points in 68% of his career bouts. Eleven of the 40 ranked wins throughout his career have come against top-10 opponents.

The rising senior was the 165-pound champion at the Big Ten Championships in 2023 and finished third or better in each of his three appearances at the event. Hamiti's consistent conference finishes helped him garner a top-five seed at the NCAA Championships each season of his career thus far. Hamiti first burst onto the scene in 2022, earning Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors and being named the nation's seventh-most dominant wrestler by the NCAA. Following 17 straight victories to begin his career, Hamiti improved his InterMat ranking to No. 8 on January 7, 2022, and has remained inside the top-10 in every poll since.

This past season, Hamiti put together another incredible campaign, in which he went 28-4 and earned the fifth seed at the NCAA Championships. Hamiti picked up top-10 wins against Michigan State's Caleb Fish twice and Iowa's Michael Caliendo as part of his 16-4 record against ranked opponents, won 15 of 16 dual matches and posted a 75% bonus-point rate on the year thanks to 10 pins, eight technical falls and six major decisions.

In March, Hamiti narrowly fell to NCAA finalist Mitchell Mesenbrink of Penn State in the Big Ten finals and was on the verge of his third All-America honor before suffering an overtime defeat to Oklahoma State's Izzak Olejnik in the blood round. He was also invited to the NWCA All-Star Classic for the second year in a row, where he faced Olejnik in the esteemed exhibition match. A champion at both the Michigan State Open and Midlands Championships, Hamiti displayed some versatility with three dual starts at 174 pounds.

Hamiti also impressed off the mat throughout his career with a pair of Academic All-Big Ten and NWCA Scholar All-America selections.

A native of Joliet, Ill., Hamiti was a three-time Illinois state champion at Joliet Catholic Academy and was heavily favored for a fourth title prior to the tournament's cancellation due to COVID-19. Hamiti claimed titles at the 2019 Junior Nationals in Fargo and the Super 32 Challenge the following year and was honored with Illinois' Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award in 2021.