Sallisaw posted a 43-24 victory in its first dual of the season, but the Black Diamonds also gained valuable experience for some of their younger wrestlers. Hume inserted a pair of freshmen into a make-shift line-up and he also had some of his standouts prolong their matches for conditioning purposes.
Tim Humpherys and Job Thomas both pinned their opponents and teammates Grant Daffin and Shane Flashner also posted wins for the Diamonds, who won four more matches by forfeit.
Daffin is one of Sallisaw's top contenders to make it to state this season and he opened his sophomore campaign with a victory. Wrestling at 130 pounds, Daffin earned a 9-3 decision over Salina's Will Tyner.
"The reason it went that way is because that was their toughest kid and I told Grant to take him down and let him go, take him down and let him go," said Hume. "I knew we could win, but I wanted to work on our technique. Down the road, I want our technique to be better and our shape to be better. The other kid stalled a lot and Grant had to do all the work, but that's what I want. I want Grant so tired he can't stand up after the match because when we get to the state tournament he's going to be ready."
At 160 pounds, Flashner opened his sophomore season with a 14-5 major decision against Buck McCauley.
"Shane did exactly what I needed him to do. He's a takedown artist and he got a major decision out of the deal," said Hume.
In the night's first match, Humpherys took 1:29 to pin Salina's Bryant Burn and hand the Diamonds a 6-0 lead. They led 15-0 before the visitors got falls at 135 and 140 to pull within 15-12.
Hume wasn't too disappointed with the setbacks, however, since he was trying to gain varsity experience for freshmen Tyler Young and Ty Sanders. Young stepped in at 135 for returning starter Randy Johnson, who is out with a back injury.
"Tyler's wrestled real good in the preseason tournaments and won a lot of matches, but he got out there, reached for the head and made a mistake. Tyler's seen the bright lights now and I'm glad he's got the jitters out tonight," said Hume.
Sanders battled hard throughout the first period, but was pinned by Salina's Austin Sanders 50 seconds into the second.
"Ty wrestled that big, strong kid 2-0 in the first period. We take down and the kid is so strong he overpowers us. I'd do it again, because I wanted Ty to have to fight that strength and get the experience," said Hume.
Senior Job Thomas handed Sallisaw a 21-12 lead in the next bout. Thomas pinned Salina 145-pounder Dean Wahpakeche in just 37 seconds.
"Job came out from football and has been in the wrestling room for one week. He takes the kid down, pins him-that's what a senior's supposed to do," said Hume.
Blake Rea is another football player who recently joined up with the wrestlers. He competed at 152, losing to Wade Goings in the second round of their match.
"Blake is in shape, but not in wrestling shape yet," said Hume. "He wrestled hard and I was proud of him. He did a good job until he ran out of gas."
Flashner's victory at 161 handed the Diamonds a 25-18 lead, but Salina pulled within a point when Jake Gaskins got out of trouble and pinned Sallisaw sophomore Casey Middleton in the second period.
"We had him on his back, and got caught on ours. It's a mistake only," said Hume.
Sallisaw won the three remaining matches by forfeit as 189-pounder Randy Tonch
