SALLISAW WRESTLING
When Mark Smith took over as wrestling coach at Sallisaw High three years ago, he came in with one goal in mind.
“I came in here to win. They’ve won dual state before but never an overall state title and I believed that in order to do that you had to change the mentality of the program and I’ve been fortunate enough as a coach and a wrestler to have experienced that kind of mentality.”
Going into his third year, Smith’s results speak for themselves. His first year, the Black Diamonds qualified nine wrestlers for state with one state champ. Last year Sallisaw was ranked number two in the state most of the year, reached the semifinals of dual state and crowned two individual state champs in Cole Mayfield and Cason Kraft and just missed a third in Brodie Adams while finishingthird overall. This year started off full of optimism for Smith.
“On paper we started out with a strong team anchored by those three guys we mentioned but injuries have been a big problem for us. We’ve lost three or four guys that probably would have been state placers. We’ve struggled in duals this year and had to call on some freshmen to help us win enough to qualify for dual state again but giving those guys that experience will be big for us down the line. We’ve had duals this year where we’ve had to forfeit three or four matches but still had enough to win. It’s helped having tough kids like Cole and Cason and Brodie who are of that mindset we’ve helped create and that set an example for the others. And I think we’ve seen that mental toughness filter down to some of those freshmen that have helped us this year. A lot of it is about being consistent and building a wrestling environment where the kids identify as wrestlers.”
Building a strong program requires a good feeder system and Smith is working on that aspect by bringing in former Black Diamond two-time state champ Cale Wilson to head up the youth program and credits Kevin Adams and his family as being a constant force in the wrestling program going back to the 1970s.
“Kevin has really kept things together in the program for years and he’s really the reason I’m here,” said Smith. “I was running a wrestling program in Morris and some of the Sallisaw guys like Brodie would come over there in the summer and that’s how I got established the connection to Sallisaw.”
Given his track record, it would seem safe to assume that the wrestling program at Sallisaw will continue to be successful under Mark Smith.
