Sallisaw beats Fort Gibson, loses to Bristow at dual state

No. 6 Sallisaw went one step further than it did a year ago, reaching the Class 4A semifinals at the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association (OSSAA) Dual State Championships as it upended third-ranked Fort Gibson 41-30 in the quarterfinals.

However, it would go on to lose 50-25 to eventual state runner-up Bristow on Saturday at the Tulsa Union Multipurpose Activity Center.

The sixth-ranked Black Diamonds (8-2), who had lost to the Tigers (18-3) in the quarterfinals of last year’s dual state championships, clinched victory when Cash Mayfield pinned Alex Vafeas in 43 seconds in the 150-pound match. Mayfield is the younger brother of Sallisaw standout Cole Mayfield, who made All-State and graduated last year. The older Mayfield is now wrestling at the University of Central Oklahoma.

Sallisaw coach Mark Smith said after his team was done for the day that he felt like it was more of a tournament team.

“We made the semifinals,” Smith said. “We were a six-seed coming in, but we’re not really built for duals this year. We’re probably more of a tournament team. We had some guys that wrestled well, but overall, as a team, I didn’t think the effort was there. We’ve got to change that. It looked like we had a little bit of satisfaction getting past Fort Gibson when we beat a three-seed.

“Going into the Fort Gibson match, I didn’t think we were an underdog anyway. I thought we were better than Fort Gibson, and I told our kids that, but we seemed like maybe we didn’t go out there and put our best effort out this afternoon. That’s for sure.

“We just want to wrestle better than that as a program.”

With the state quarterfinal dual opening at 157 pounds, Sallisaw lost the first match as Alex Reed lost a 13-6 decision to Brendon Bell, a state runner-up last year.

However, Brody Mills answered for the Black Diamonds with a pin at 165, putting down James Reed on the mat 37 seconds in. After a hardfought back-and-forth battle at 175, Rylan Eagle lost by fall to Vincent Biggs with 21 seconds remaining in his bout, and Sallisaw was down 9-6.

Major decisions by Drew Simpson at 190 and Hunter Smith at 215 put the Black Diamonds up 14-9. Simpson won his match 20-7 against the Tigers’ Zac Cushman. Smith took a 9-1 win over Jaedan Johnson.

In Smith’s battle versus Johnson, he was up 2-0 on a pair of escape points going into the third period. He then placed Johnson on his back and came close to the pin before Johnson escaped. Smith was awarded four points for the near-fall, and Johnson got an escape point, and it was 6-1. Smith took down Johnson one more time for three points.

The next two bouts went to the Tigers as Stevie Vafeas, their other state runner-up from last season, pinned Tukker Flute just 42 seconds into the heavyweight match, and Callan Caldwell dominated Mylz Oft, winning by technical fall 18-3 at 106 pounds. Fort Gibson was up 20-14.

However, Sallisaw won the next four matches and never looked back. It tied the dual score at 113 pounds as Rangler Carter forced a fall to Carter Huffman with a little more than a minute left in the second period. Carter applied a takedown to Huffman and nearly pinned him in the first period, and took a 7-0 advantage. He took down Huffman again for a 10-0 lead before making the official pin.

Lucas McAllister was given a forfeit at 120, and the Black Diamonds were up 26-20.

Another fall for Sallisaw came at 126 by Tilden Gates over Carlos Ramirez with 11 seconds left in the second period. Then, at 132 pounds, Morgan Duke earned a 4-2 win over David Farmer, and the Black Diamonds were in front 35-20.

Fort Gibson took the next two matches to draw within 35-30, including a pin at 144 pounds by Trenton Bell, a state champion last year, over Briar James, just 34 seconds into the middle period. Before that, Dawson Glover dropped a 15-7 major decision to Caleb Miller at 138.

The stage had been set for Mayfield to make a difference.

In the dual against Bristow, Sallisaw won the first match with Mills taking a major decision 11-2 over the Purple Pirates’ Shane Bethel. The Black Diamonds enjoyed an early 4-0 advantage, but it was short-lived as Bristow took the next six matches, five by pin and one by technical fall, putting Sallisaw down 35-4.

Gates then won a 12-9 sudden-death victory decision over Warren Vanzant at 120 pounds to give the Black Diamonds three more dual points.

The next three battles went to Bristow by decision, forfeit and fall, making the dual score 50-7.

Sallisaw got a quick 18 points by virtue of forfeits in the last three weight classes of 144, 150 and 157 pounds.

Bristow advanced to the final, where it lost to Tuttle for the second straight year. For Tuttle, it marked a record 17 consecutive dual state championships.

The Black Diamonds will move on to the 4A West Regional Tournament, which is this Friday and Saturday in Tuttle.