The Diamonds built a 12-0 lead through the first three weights and then weathered a Stilwell comeback before B.J. Hurley, Casey Middleton and Allen Fair sealed the win.
"That was the biggest turnaround of the night," Sallisaw head coach Darrel Hume said of the victories at 152, 160 and 171 pounds that saw the Diamonds rally from a five-point deficit to grab a 34-21 lead.
Hurley, a junior 152-pounder, took a 4-1 lead in the first period against Justin Bruner and increased it to 6-1 before pinning the Stilwell wrestler 51 seconds into the second period. The fall put Sallisaw in front 22-21.
"Bruner is a real strong kid, but I knew if we could get past his strength we could get a win," said Hume. "I wasn't expecting a fall, but B.J. just did the right things at the right time and did a great job finishing it off."
Middleton made it 28-21 by pinning David Price at the 1:14 mark of their bout at 160 pounds.
"Casey is a freshman stepping into the line-up and he does a good job. He stood up, I hollered the move and he made it perfectly," said Hume.
Fair, a move-in from Colorado, gave Sallisaw an insurmountable lead by pinning Bear Tehee with 34 seconds left in the second period.
"I wanted a win at 171 and Allen Fair gives us a fall. Once he got past that first period, his confidence boosted. He took over, manhandled the young man and just fought for the fall," said Hume.
Joseph Branham won by forfeit at 189 to stretch the lead to 40-21. Stilwell gained some consolation from a fall at 215 pounds and forfeit win for defending state finalist Brad Jones at heavyweight.
The dual victory was the first of the season for Sallisaw, which was defeated at Jay in its opener and lost to state champion Glenpool on Tuesday night. By beating Class 3A No. 7 Stilwell, Sallisaw improves to 1-2 overall and 1-1 in the district.
The Diamonds had six freshmen in the line-up on Thursday night. The first one to hit the mat was Blaine Teague, who recorded a 10-4 win over Daniel Diagnault at 103 pounds.
"That was a big win for us for seeding purposes, because we'll see Stilwell at the conference tournament and at our tournament. That also revenges a loss from last year when they were in junior high," Hume said of Teague's win.
At 112, Josh Hume ran his record to 3-0 on the season by pinning Koda Tehee. Hume got a takedown one minute into the period to go up 11-2 before getting the fall with :34 left.
Senior 119-pounder Cash Vaughan followed that up with a 9-3 decision against Austin Brown to give Sallisaw a 12-0 advantage.
"Cash lost to Austin Brown in the conference tournament consolation finals last year, so that was another big win for us," remarked coach Hume.
Stilwell's first win of the night came in the 125-pound matchup as Raymond Hernandez pinned the Diamonds' C.J. Anderson.
"C.J. Anderson is a freshman who wrestles on the junior high team at 110 pounds. He stepped up for us to help us out tonight and he fought hard," Hume said.
Seth Cox handed Sallisaw a 16-6 lead with a 19-6 major decision against Cody Brewer. Cox, the second-ranked 130-pounder in Class 3A, improved his record to 3-0 with the win.
"Cody Brewer is not a bad kid. He's a fighter and he's going to be a good one, so that's a good win for Seth," Hume said.
Stilwell began to make a comeback with consecutive victories at 135, 140 and 145. The Indians' Travis Kirby started the rally with a hard-fought 5-3 double-overtime decision of Randy Johnson.
"Randy Johnson made one simple mistake. All we had to do was ride him out for the win and Randy was going for the pin. He's been in the wrestling room for two weeks. I'd rather him make that mistake now than at the end of the year," Hume said.
Stilwell's Clay Wilson pinned Jordan Simonds at 140 pounds to pull the visitors within 16-15.
"Jordan just made a mistake. He's a freshman still wrestling like a freshman and his confidence isn't quite there yet. He's got all the talent in the world. When his confidence catches up with his talent, he's going to be unbelievable," said Hume.
Stilwell went in front 21-16 when state champion Jimmy Matlock pinned Sallisaw's Colt Sanders in the first period of their bout at 145.
"Jimmy Matlock is ranked nationally, not just in the state. You can't say enough good things about Jimmy Matlock, but Colt got in there and fought with him," said Hume.
Three-straight falls and Branham's forfeit win clinched the dual victory for Sallisaw before Stilwell's Cody Wright pinned Richard Ross in the 215-pound match.
"Richard's a freshman in there wrestling bigger, older kids. He did all right. I'm proud of him. He's the A team heavyweight on the junior high team, so I think it's pretty good of him to step up and help us out."
Wrestling Notes
