Sallisaw fills coaching vacancies in Lady Diamonds wrestling, HS cross country

When Sallisaw Black Diamonds assistant football and wrestling coach Scott Mayfield threw his hat into the ring to become the new Sallisaw Lady Diamonds wrestling coach and the new high school cross country coach to replace coach Darrel Hume, who retired after last season, he wanted to make sure he had the backing of his family — wife Kara, soon-to-be University of Central Oklahoma freshman wrestling son Cole (who was a state champion wrestler the final three seasons of his varsity career), soon-to-be Sallisaw junior athletic son Cash and soon-to-be sophomore trainer daughter Kamryn. Once that was in place, then accepting the coaching positions was pretty easy.

Mayfield was hired at last Monday night’s Sallisaw Public Schools Board of Education meeting as the new Lady Diamonds wrestling coach and the new Lady Diamonds and Black Diamonds cross country coach.

“I’m super excited,” Mayfield said. “It gives me another opportunity to work with the kids and to help more kids get to a point where they’re the best version of themselves. I’m absolutely looking forward to it.”

One might think giving up his assistant football and Black Diamonds wrestling coaching duties was a hard decision to make for Mayfield. That truly was not the case.

“It wasn’t a hard decision. It was one of those that I knew there was a need for some good stuff to be happening with the (wrestling) girls side of it. I know the girls have a lot of potential. We have the numbers. I know I’ll get to see my son wrestle, and I know I’ll get to see him have some success. It’s one of those toss-up things. It makes it easier to move to the girls knowing that Cash is in great hands with Coach (Mark) Smith and Coach (John) Sanders. Also I loved working with and learning from Coach Smith. I’m excited about taking that knowledge and applying it to the girls program. It was just a good decision.”

The new Lady Diamonds wrestling coach has a vision for what he wants to do with the program.

“We’re going to focus on development, trying to get these girls to the next level as far as teaching,” Mayfield said. “We’re doing a lot of mindset and character development as well. We’re going to be building a different type of foundation than they had before — one that the girls can grow from. That’s our goal right now. We have our strength and conditioning program — we call it Diamond Pride — for our girls. We’re doing Diamond Pride four days out of the week for these two months (until the end of July) before the dead period. I feel like us focusing on their needs is going to be a big thing. I’m constantly stressing to them this program is not about me. It’s not about how much I win. It’s getting them to a place where they can be the very best version of themselves. That way, if they want to wrestle in college, they’ll be able to. We’re going to be concentrating on getting more matches this year, spending more time on the mat and learning. We’re going to be taking advantage of our strength and conditioning hour. I feel if we do those things, we’re looking at a top finish at state in the next couple of years. We’re averaging 12 to 13 girls a day at our Diamond Pride. There’s about 19 girls that have been participating in our River Valley Freestyle Academy wrestling club, so that’s another opportunity for the girls to get mat time and work on the freestyle part of wrestling. Freestyle is going to be important for the girls because that’s what they do in college. If they want to go wrestle in college, that’s the way to go.”

Since Mayfield was not involved in the Sallisaw High School cross country program, one might ponder how experienced he is in that sport. Come to find out, he’s very experienced in it.

“When I first got started coaching, I was at Brushy,” Mayfield said. “I got to be the head cross country coach there. It was a lot different than high school, but it was the developmental part of it. Also, where I grew up, Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch west of Amarillo, Texas, they were really big in cross country. They have a big history in cross country. (Boys Ranch) Coach Kenneth Brown was the head coach when I was there. Their passion for how good they did out there, I’ve seen it. I know what the best do.”

The new Sallisaw cross country coach was pleased with the turnout at a recent meeting for current and potential runners.

“We did have the kids meeting,” Mayfield said. “We had about nine high school boys and girls. Right now, we’re looking at us almost having full teams for both teams. We need to have five (for a full team). Right now, we’re looking at having full teams to be able to go and compete (in team standings). I love development in programs. I think getting kids out and teaching them new experiences and teaching them how to compete is big — not just for school, but their lives, teaching them how to go through some adversity, how to handle adversity and how to do that the right way to be successful (in life) after sports is over. All of our (cross country) athletes we have are pretty bought in. They’re training on their own a little bit. We’re giving them guidance on how many miles they’re putting in.”

Mayfield will not be alone in coaching his new teams. He will have coach Andrea Knight helping him in both programs. Knight will succeed LuWella Harris as the Lady Diamonds assistant wrestling coach after Harris stepped down at the end of the school year.

“Having Coach Knight with me is big,” Mayfield said. “She’s an avid runner. She’s an ultra runner. She’s a great athlete that goes and trains other runners. She participates in 100mile races. I’m super excited for her. Coach Knight comes to us with tons of experience as an athlete as well as a dance and tumbling instructor. Her knowledge in the area of kinesiology will be a great addition to the entire wrestling program.”

Mayfield believes he will not only be coaching athletes to make them better in their respective sport but preparing them for life.

“We’re working with student-athletes,” he said. “We want our athletes to be as hard workers in the classroom just as they are on the mat and the cross country course. I feel if we do those things, it’s going to greatly influence their moral character and who they are. Our goal is to raise good people, and good, successful people, in life.”