By Ray Hamill — Longtime local wrestling coach Tom Pender will return to Humboldt County this weekend, as the McKinleyville Panthers get set to host their annual wrestling tournament.

The former Panthers coach will return to his old stomping ground when he brings the Delta High Saints to compete at the one-day event on Saturday.

Pender recently started a wrestling program at Delta High and will bring around 30 kids to compete.

All nine H-DNL teams will also be on hand, although some local schools will be sending split squads to a couple of different tournaments as they continue to build momentum ahead of league competition in the new year.

The host Panthers feature a young roster of 21 wrestlers this season, with just three seniors on hand, although the youngsters have been wrestling together for a few years and are showing some promise.

“They don’t have the experience at the high school level, but all of them have wrestled for me in our youth program,” McKinleyville head coach Virgil Moorehead said. 

Fresh off a fall season competing in cross country, junior Jace Thomson is back for the Panthers this winter and is expected to have a big season on the mats.

Thomson placed third at the last weekend’s Battle at the Border tournament in Del Norte.

Senior Willy Baumgarten is also back with the team this year and expected to make some noise at 140 pounds.

Saturday’s tournament gets under way at 9 a.m, with the finals expected to begin around 4:30 p.m.

In addition to the nine local programs and Delta, the tournament will also feature teams from Corning, Ukiah and Willits.