Wrestling will begin at 2 p.m. Friday with five rounds of action in a pool format. Saturday's first bouts will begin at noon with the championship finals set for approximately 5 p.m., said Sallisaw head coach Darrel Hume.
A year ago, the Diamonds took third place in the team standings and sent five wrestlers into the finals. Josh Hume and Seth Cox won championships in their weight classes, while John Petree, Colt Sanders and Randy Johnson each came in second. Another wrestler, Cash Vaughan, placed third for Sallisaw.
Coach Hume said the tournament will be a challenge for his team.
"It should be a really tough tournament. Just about every school has some kids capable of wrestling in the finals," said Hume.
The event has attracted a dozen schools, including highly-ranked teams like Cascia Hall and Deer Creek-Edmond, local rivals like Fort Gibson, Poteau and Stilwell and teams from as far away as Memphis.
The Diamonds are coming off a busy weekend at the Jay Dual Tournament, where they wrestled nine times and won three duals. Sallisaw defeated Oologah 46-35, McDonald County, Mo., 41-36 and Miami 53-24. Losses came against Jay, Cleveland, Poteau, Fort Gibson, Perkins and Cascia Hall.
Despite the losses, Hume was pleased with how Sallisaw competed at Jay.
"I'm real happy with the way we're wrestling. We had four placers," said the coach.
Cox and Johnson won individual championships at Jay. Petree was third, Randy Tonche fourth and another, Josh Hume, was undefeated on the first day before getting sick.
Perkins won the tournament with Jay coming in second and Cascia Hall third.
The meet's outstanding wrestlers were Brad Ward of Perkins in the upper weights and Jay's Robbie Pickle for the lower weights.
