Dean Hamiti was one of the nation's top competitors at 165 pounds during the last three years at Wisconsin.

But late last season, it became apparent the weight was becoming an issue. 

“It was tough last year,” said Hamiti, who found a new home and a new weight class after transferring to Oklahoma State and moving up to 174 pounds. “I feel like I shrunk a lot toward the end of the year. I didn’t really have too much muscle mass and (it was) just a hard weight cut.”

After back-to-back sixth-place finishes at the NCAA Championships in 2022 and 2023, Hamiti lost to former Cowboy All-American, Izzak Olejnik, in the blood round in 2024. 

After falling short of the podium, Hamiti entered the transfer portal and it didn’t take him long to announce his intentions of being a Cowboy. Since joining the Cowboys, he’s on pace to have the best season of his career. 

Hamiti needs two wins to reach the 100-career victory mark. This season, he’s undefeated while boasting an 82.4-percent bonus rate and ranked third. Bumping up to 174 pounds is paying off well so far in his final season. 

“I’m quicker, I have a little more pop in my legs,” Hamiti said. “I think last year, toward the third period, my legs would kinda go a little jelly on me. I wouldn’t shoot as much but I’m wrestling whistle-to-whistle now, so, I feel good.” 

Witcraft Talks ‘Relaxed’ Final Season

Oklahoma State 133-pounder Reece Witcraft could feel a lot of pressure this season. He’s chasing his first NCAA podium finish while battling injuries and competing with a heralded freshman for a full-time starting job. 

Instead, he said he’s relaxed and has a high level of comfort with the new Oklahoma State coaching staff.

“This year — it’s been good, it’s been really relaxed,” Witcraft said. This new coaching, it just feels a lot more comfortable here for some reason. Battling Cael (Hughes), Cael’s tough. You got two really good guys at a weight, you kinda just have to throw the best guy out there and you gotta trust in your coaches. If he doesn’t throw me out there, I gotta trust David and say ‘Maybe it was the best decision to throw Cael out there instead.’ I just trust in the coaches and believe in what they say.”

Witcraft said he’s grown especially close with assistant coach Thomas Gilman. Witcraft joked after seeing Gilman in interviews he thought: “He seemed a little crazy.” He said he was excited for Gilman to come to Oklahoma State, but he didn’t know what kind of coach he’d be getting. Now, Witcraft said Gilman has been instrumental in molding him.

“I was excited for him to be here, just kinda wondering how he was gonna be,” Witcraft said. “Is he gonna come in here and be nuts and beat the crap out of me? Which he does — he beats the crap out of me… I love Thomas. He’s like my mentor. I needed him. He’s tough, and I think I needed some of him to rub off on me. It’s great having him.” 

Little Rock On Deck 

The Cowboys wrap up the season with a series of road trips beginning with one to Little Rock to take on the 16th-ranked Trojans. Based on rankings, Little Rock is favored in two matches — 133 and 197 — with All-Americans Nasir Bailey and Stephen Little. 

There is also intrigue in the 149-pound bout between #12 Carter Young and former Oklahoma State starter, #20 Jordan Williams. Early last season at the Lindenwood Open, Williams notched a 7-6 semifinal win against Oklahoma State’s Teague Travis, who later became the Cowboy starter at 157. In the finals, he registered a 15-2 major decision win against Young.

Oklahoma State coach David Taylor gave high praise to the Trojans and the job coach Neil Erisman has done building a program from scratch and said he expects a competitive dual on the road. 

“(They’re great), coach Erisman has done a great job there,” Taylor said. “It’s really hard to start a program and what he’s done, it’s been awesome. It’s a challenging dual, they got some really tough wrestlers. It’s gonna be a tough match, we gotta be ready for it.”