Though “The Duo” of senior 141-pounder Joe Caramanica and No. 3 Darrion Caldwell often come to mind when one thinks of the stars of the wrestling team, redshirt senior 157-pounder Kody Hamrah is quietly enjoying a stellar finish to a career that will leave his name in the wrestling record books.
Hamrah, with his 74 career wins, ranks 16th in the school record books for career wins. Having already won 26 bouts this year, and with the possibility of winning many more, Hamrah has an opportunity to surpass several wrestlers before this season is over.
“He will wrestle at least 8 more matches,” coach Carter Jordan said. “And I think it is safe to say, worst case scenario, he’s going to win 6.”
Should he finish with the “worst case scenario” predicted by Jordan, Hamrah will rank 12th all time in career victories, and his 2008-09 season will go down in the records with 32 wins, and a 12th place tie for season wins. The last wrestler to accomplish this feat was heavyweight Sylvester Terkay, who ended his 1991 season with a third place national finish.
Remarkably, Hamrah has achieved all these accomplishments in relative obscurity due to star teammates Caramanica and Caldwell. According to Caldwell, the lack of attention Hamrah receives is as much because of his unassuming personality as it is because of the attention his teammates attract.
“He is not the type of guy really looking to be in the newspaper,” Caldwell said. “He likes to do everything quietly. He is productive, but quiet.”
When asked if he ever resented the fact that his younger teammates often receive more publicity than him, Hamrah quickly and emphatically said that it has never once bothered him, and that he, in fact, enjoys watching them wrestle.
“There is no envy or anything like that, those guys are great and they deserve everything,” Hamrah said. “They work hard for it, and we’re all just happy for each other for any success we have.”
Hamrah’s compiled 26-7 record this season is certainly nothing new for the veteran wrestler. In 2006, Hamrah won the ACC championship at 157-pounds and won 14 of his last 16 matches as a junior. In addition, the redshirt senior has been able to thrive in good health this season after ailing through an ankle sprain, knee injuries, and a broken hand during his sophomore and junior campaigns.
Hamrah said he decided before this season that he was not going to let any injury, regardless of the pain it would cause him, limit him in his fifth and final season with the team.
“I kind of figured I am going to be wrestling this year, and that it really does not matter if I get injured here or get injured there,” Hamrah said. “It is my last year, and I am not going to sit out.”
According to Caldwell, Hamrah has been much more than a talented wrestler this season, as the effort he has provided as the team’s only fifth-year senior has made him a role model for his teammates.
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“A lot of guys look up to him, because he never stops working hard, and no matter how tired he is, Kody’s always giving 100 percent,” Caldwell said. “Being a fifth-year senior and performing the way he is really gives the younger guys that extra boost.”
For Hamrah, the upcoming ACC tournament will be a culmination of all of his past victories in conference matches throughout his career.
Hamrah currently holds a 28-3 career record in conference matches, and he says that he is determined to win his second ACC championship after multiple disappointing finishes in the finals in past years.
“I have been in the finals every year and two years I’ve lost to kids I’ve previously beaten, so I have got to go all the way. I’ve got to win the thing,” Hamrah said.
According to Jordan, Hamrah has a very good chance to win the ACC Championships, which will be held Mar. 7 in Blacksburg, Va., and experience success in the Mar. 19 NCAA Tournament.
“Obviously he would be the favorite to win it [the ACC Championship],” Jordan said. “He is capable of winning the whole thing [the NCAA tournament], because you only have to beat five guys, and he is a streaky wrestler. When he gets on a roll he is very difficult to beat.”
