Sallisaw wrestler Cole Mayfield finishes career with third straight state title

When he finally captured yet another individual state wrestling championship, Cole Mayfield didn’t display any excess exuberance. Initially, the Sallisaw senior felt relief, surviving a grueling final match that went the distance.

He then made sure to congratulate his opponent on a hard-fought match, also offering words of encouragement.

Then, when the referee raised Mayfield’s hand in victory, that was when the moment finally hit. Mayfield raised three fingers to the crowd, signifying his third state title.

“Nothing too much was going through my head, it was just the satisfaction that I got it done, and I got a little bit of a revenge thing on the biggest stage, so it was good,” Mayfield said.

Mayfield defeated Fort Gibson freshman Brendan Bell, who had beaten Mayfield twice in previous encounters, by a 2-1 decision in the finals of the Oklahoma Class 4A 157-pound weight class earlier in Oklahoma City. It was Mayfield’s third straight state title, the first coming at nearby Warner before Mayfield transferred to Sallisaw prior to his junior season and won two more.

For winning his final match, Mayfield finished his senior season with a 40-2 record. In his career, he went 158-10 along with the three state titles.

Mayfield also adds his own name to his family’s athletic legacy. His father competed in rodeos as a bull rider, his mother was a swimmer and a barrel racer, his brother played football, wrestled and ran track, and his sister is a wrestling trainer. Plus, Mayfield’s grandfather played minor league baseball.

“My dad wrestled a little bit in middle school, but I’m really the first generational wrestler in my family,” said Mayfield, who also played football at Sallisaw, helping the Black Diamonds to back-to-back 4A quarterfinal playoff appearances.

“Three (titles) makes it even better, and it’s a little bit special to me because I kind of started something new with my family name, and I can carry it on to my children and grandchildren when I’m older.”

Entering the championship match, Mayfield believed his experience might be enough to push through against Bell, even though Bell had owned two wins. But Mayfield had beaten Bell three times.

“I’ve already beat him three times that year, so I think I knew how to win, I knew how to beat him, especially because I wrestled and beat him already, so I kind of had a game plan going into it,” Mayfield said. “And I think experience and just mentality is what got me through it and got the job done.”

Mayfield won his last match as part of the final state wrestling tournament at Oklahoma City’s legendary State Fair Arena, also known as the “Big House.” The arena, which has been in use for 60 years, will be torn down in a few weeks, with a new arena right next door taking its place.

“It’s pretty cool knowing that I got to be on top of the last state tournament at the ‘Big House,’ Mayfield said. “I hold a lot of memories there; I wrestled there for 14 years, so that place holds a lot of memories. … Good memories, and a lot of defeats in there. But I learned a lot of lessons.”

Mayfield, who has a grade-point average that exceeds 4.0, will continue his wrestling career at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, one of the top programs in NCAA Division II.

Just as satisfying for Mayfield with his latest title win was helping Sallisaw finish second in the 4A team standings. Due to a litany of injuries and illness, the Black Diamonds entered state with just five wrestlers, but three of them won state (Mayfield, Cason Craft in the 113 to finish a 38-0 season, and Bodie Adams in the 175).

“We still come out and actually did better than we did last year (when Sallisaw placed third),” Mayfield said. “We had three champs this year and a third place. … But what’s really special is the fact that those guys, and even the guys in the room, they pushed us to our limits to get us better.”