Black Diamond trio ready to bring home national titles, earn All-American status at Fargo

Three Sallisaw Black Diamonds wrestlers, Cole Mayfield, Bodie Adams and Cason Craft, will try to accomplish two things next week when they go to the 2024 USA Nationals Junior/Age 16-and-Younger Tournament, which will begin Sunday at Fargo, N.D.

The three matmen hope to win national titles and earn All-American status, but at least one of the two would make their week.

“Obviously, you want to go out there and win it,” said Mayfield, who will be at 157 pounds in the Junior Division. “To say the least, I just want to go out there and place. I’m already committed to Central Oklahoma (in Edmond) for college. I’m not really looking at who is looking at me (for college), I just want to go out there and wrestle and have fun.”

“If I can’t be the national champion, I just want to place — at least in the top six,” said Adams, who will be at 175 pounds in the Junior Division. “I feel that is kind of realistic.”

“My goal is that I am competing the hardest I can compete and having fun,” said Craft, who will be at 106 pounds in the Junior Division and in the Greco-Roman portion of the tournament. “At these big tournaments, it doesn’t matter if it’s in the finals or the semifinals, it’s hitting that block, and get over that before I go to college and be able to wrestle in the NCAAs. I’ve got to get over that block, and be able just to have fun. I have to be relaxed and know that I’m the best competitor in the world at my weight.”

Both Mayfield, who won his second straight high school wrestling title last February as a sophomore as he won the 150-pound championship at the Class 4A State Tournament after winning the Class 3A State Tournament title as a freshman while at Warner, and Adams, who was the Class 4A State Tournament runner-up at 165 pounds, are making their second straight trip to Fargo. Both said having participated in the national event last year has helped them get ready for this month’s event.

“It really opened my eyes to the different level of the skill of the wrestlers who are up there,” Mayfield said. “It’s a different breed (in Fargo) than it is down here. I kind of relate it to my freshman year of high school wrestling. I was at Warner. I was expected to win the state tournament as a freshman. I kind of let the lights get to me. I wrestled tight, and I didn’t wrestle very well. Last year at Fargo, it was a big tournament and good wrestlers. I get out there, and I got tight under the lights. The pressure got to me. I think this year is going to be a lot different. I think it’s going to be similar to my sophomore year at state (last February). I’ll go out there, win it and I beat the kid that beat me. I think I’ll do a lot better this year. I think I’ll go out there and win.”

“It kind of showed me that sometimes my best isn’t enough,” Adams said. “I need to put more effort in and just train better.”

Craft already has earned three All-American statuses at Fargo as he is a two-time cadet freestyle All-American, with the latest of those coming last year when he finished fifth at 94 pounds, and got a Greco-Roman All-American status for his third-place finish in 2023. However, he believes he could have done even better last year, and he hopes to prove that this time at Fargo.

“Last year, I made it to the semifinals in freestyle, and I let the semifinals beat me — not that the kid beat me,” Craft said. “I got to come out there every match the exact same — with a smile on my face and having the same mindset of being the best competitor in the world at my weight. That’s what I didn’t do (last year) at the semis. I did that in every match but the semis. That’s where the tournament beat me, and I beat myself. I was wrestling really good. I won four straight and made it to the semis, and I let the tournament get to my head. After a tough weight cut that night, I woke up and made weight. I wrestled in the semis and lost, and I kept replaying that (loss) in my head. I had been to the national semifinals for two years in a row, and it was bugging me. I finished the (freestyle) tournament in sixth, and then third in Greco-Roman. It wasn’t bad, but I have to come out there with a better mindset on that final day of freestyle.”

Craft said his experience he gained at last year’s Class 4A State Tournament will be invaluable come next week in Fargo.

“I learned a lot at the state tournament,” Craft said. “Again, I hit that mental block. I didn’t wrestle my best in the state finals — the whole state tournament, I didn’t wrestle my best. I think I can learn off that by looking at it like, ‘I can beat these guys. You just go out there and dominate.’ It got to the point where I let the state finals get to me, and now I was in a close match. I just got to remember back, just like last year at Fargo when I hit that semis block and let the tournament beat me, I need to be relaxed and loose. My coaches are helping me with that. It’s a new tournament every time.”

Last year, both Adams and Craft were in the Cadet/Age 16-and-Younger Division. Now, they will be in the next level up — the Junior Division. Both wrestlers are ready for the new challenges.

“There’s a little bit of excitement, but a little bit of fear — but I want to go rumble with them, and see what I can do out there,” Adams said.

“I’ve seen these guys already at the Junior Duals,” Craft said. “I wrestled 13 matches, and I went 12-1. I’ve seen most of these guys. I’ve just got to be able to go ahead and compete, and not let the atmosphere get to me — knowing that I’m wrestling older kids, and kids that might be committed to colleges. I just have to go wrestle like Cason Craft.”

On the other hand, Mayfield got a taste of what Junior Division competition is like last year, so he believes he’s ready for his second go round at that level of competition next week in Fargo.

“I already have a year of experience under my belt,” Mayfield said. “I kind of know what to expect. I know how hard I have to work to get on that level of intensity.”

To say that the Sallisaw trio is looking forward to next week in Fargo is a major understatement.

“I’m ready to wrestle the best guys in the country, and I think I can handle them,” Mayfield said.

“It’s exciting,” Adams said. “I want to go up there and rumble.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Craft said. “It’s the best time of the year.”