Black Diamonds go 5-3 in Diamond State Duals

SPRINGDALE, Ark. — The Sallisaw Black Diamonds wrestling team got back in action after the Christmas Break last weekend by going 5-3 in eight duals wrestled in the two-day Diamond State Duals, which took place Friday and Saturday at Springdale Har-Ber High School.

The Black Diamonds (5-5) posted wins over Berryville, Ark. (49-23), Fort Smith (Ark.) Southside (66-6), Cassville, Mo. (45-30), Springdale, Ark. (54-27) and Lincoln Christian (48-21), but lost twice to Fort Gibson (42-35 and 57-19) and once to Salina (60-12) — the team which beat the Black Diamonds 55-22 in their home opener Dec. 19 at Paul Post Field House.

Sallisaw’s two returning state champions — Cason Craft, who wrestled at 113 pounds, and Cole Mayfield, who wrestled at 157 — both went a perfect 8-0. Craft got seven pinfall wins, while Mayfield recorded four pinfall victories.

Morgan Duke, who wrestled six matches at 120 pounds and two matches at 126, went 7-1 with three pinfall wins and two technical falls.

Kash Keepes went 5-2, getting four pinfall wins and a victory by major decision, while all his matches but one at 215 pounds. He was a heavyweight in the other match.

“We had a couple more wrestlers back (from illness and injury that happened before Christmas Break), but we didn’t have some of our big hitters back,” Sallisaw boys wrestling coach Mark Smith said. “With that being said, a lot of them were getting into their first competition of the year. A lot of the guys we were competing against, although we won most of those matches, have already competed in a couple of tournaments. Some of those guys have 15 to 20 matches under their belts, and our guys really don’t have any. The bottom line is we’re starting a lot of freshmen right now, and freshmen who aren’t very experienced either. Some of our guys just need more mat time. We have to start somewhere. This was our start, and we’ll move on from there. For what we needed, it was a good tournament. There were some good things that happened. It was good for those kids to see where they are at.”

The Black Diamonds will return to action Friday and Saturday at the Cushing Tournament.

“Cushing is a tough tournament,” Smith said. “It’s one of the toughest tournaments in the state, especially for a (Class) 3A4A tournament. It’s going to be tough. It will be a good challenge for us. Hopefully, we’ll get some more guys back.”

The Lady Diamonds will spend the same two days at the Inola Tournament.

The Vian Lady Wolverines and Wolverines will have a home dual at 6 p.m. Thursday against Hulbert at B.J. Traw Gymnasium before joining the Sallisaw girls at the Inola Tournament on Friday and Saturday.

The Roland Rangers and the Gore Pirates will be at the twoday Hilldale Tournament on Friday and Saturday.