Owen, Heizer, Hiatt. Senior Sam Hiatt has proved throughout his career that he deserves to be mentioned as one of the most accomplished wrestlers in NIU history. Heading into his final dual meet Saturday, the DeKalb native will wrap up a successful career that helped establish a family legacy for NIU wrestling.

The Hiatts have always been a big wrestling family. The father of the family, Dan Hiatt, started Sam wrestling at age 5 and younger brothers Andy and Max followed suit soon after. By the time Sam and younger brother Andy graduated high school, they had created a family institution with three state titles between them.

“They’re very dedicated wrestlers,” NIU coach Dave Grant said. “It’s a big wrestling family. They live the sport. If you go in their house, you’ll see state championships on the wall. They’re very proud of their boys.”

Even after Sam’s graduation this year, the Hiatt family tradition at NIU will live on. Andy is a sophomore on the team and has racked up a 38-22 record. His youngest sibling, Max, accumulated a 105-12 record through his junior season at DeKalb High School and signed a national letter of intent last November to attend NIU.

Sam’s impact on the NIU wrestling program is most clearly demonstrated in the numbers.

Standing at 5-foot-4 and 133 pounds, Sam is frequently undersized compared to his collegiate opponents. But thanks to his patented switch move and bulldog mentality, he has won back-to-back MAC championships and over 100 career matches.

During Grant’s first four years as head coach, the team compiled a 17-39 record. When Sam joined the team in 2000-01 as a redshirt, NIU went 9-8. Over the last four seasons with Sam as a starter, the Huskies are 54-19, including 15-4 in MAC play.

“Anyone who has over 100 wins is a great wrestler,” Grant said. “He’s one of the all-time best performers here. The amount of team wins since Sam’s been here is quite phenomenal. A lot of it has been due to his effort.”

Besides his contributions as a team leader by example, Sam has excelled individually. His career 107-36 record is 10 wins behind all-time school leader Scott Owen, a two-time All-American.

With the MAC championships two weeks away, Sam looks forward to winning his third consecutive title and one more shot at the NCAA championships.

But with his last home match two days away, Sam is also thinking about his career in retrospect.

“It’s weird,” Sam said. “But I know I’ve just worked hard and given it my all every time I’ve gone out there. That’s how I want to be remembered.”