Sallisaw tames Greenwood Bulldogs
It was a successful home opener for the Sallisaw Black Diamonds wrestling team, which pinned a 74-6 victory on the Greenwood (Ark.) Bulldogs in last Thursday night’s dual at Paul Post Field House.
With limited matches due to numbers, the high school girls dual between the Lady Diamonds and the Lady Bulldogs officially ended in a 25all tie. Due to all of Greenwood’s wins coming by pinfall, the Lady Bulldogs got the 26-25 win due to pinfall criteria.
In the boys’ dual, the Black Diamonds (1-0) won all but one match on the night.
Lucas McAllister (113 pounds), Morgan Duke (126), Mattix Casebolt (138), Dawson Glover (144), Cash Mayfield (150), Brody Mills (165), Hunter Smith (215) and Tukker Flute (heavyweight) all won by pin.
Mylz Oft beat his opponent with a 19-3 technical fall in his 106-pound match, while 175-pounder Rylan Eagle won his match with a 14-10 victory.
Alex Reed won his 157-pound match by forfeit, but Jaxton Roth was pinned by Ashton Neece in their match at 132.
The Black Diamonds won two of the three exhibition matches contested as Roth won by pinfall and Briar James won by a 16-1 technical fall. Greenwood’s Kimothy Rodgers pinned Sallisaw’s Rangler Carter.
“I thought we did some good things,” Sallisaw Black Diamonds coach Mark Smith said. “We came out for all of our matches excited. We competed hard — there’s no doubt of that. I thought we competed hard. We had energy on the bench. Guys were rooting for each other. Our season is in front of us. I’m proud of the effort. We wrestled well.”
In the girls’ dual, the Lady Diamonds (0-1) got forfeited wins by Destiny Clarke at 110 pounds, Natalie Flute at 125, Kylee Wheat at 130 and Kamryn Mayfield at heavyweight.
In four matches in which there was competition, the Lady Bulldogs won all of those by pinfall as Fara Crossno pinned Taylor Archuleta in their match at 105 pounds, Isabella Thomas pinned Kadence Martinez at 120, Afton Bridges pinned Lainey Ball at 170 and Mariah Bartok pinned Kye Barnes in an exhibition match.
The wrestling home openers for the Sallisaw teams took place in conjunction with the first annual Sallisaw Masonic Lodge Chili Cookoff.
In the best chili cookoff contest, Malora Knoke took home first place, Carrie Simpson was second and Matt Duke was third.
In the hottest chili cookoff contest, Missy Beaird was the winner, with Duke second and P.J. Adams third.
The Sallisaw wrestlers will be idle until after 2026 arrives.
The Black Diamonds will return to action Jan. 9-10 at the Cushing Tournament, which was canceled last season due to snow.
The Lady Diamonds will participate in the Inola Tournament, which also was snowed out last season, on Jan. 9-10.
