Submitted Photo – Eureka’s Cameron Ellsworth celebrates his victory at Saturday’s Big Bucks Junior Dragster Race.

By Ray Hamill — An up-and-coming young local drag racer and a team that has yet to compete earn our accolades this week after memorable weeks for both.

Eureka’s Cameron Ellsworth took home a nice pay check and a highly coveted local trophy after a big showing at one of the biggest youth drag races of the summer last weekend.

Ellsworth placed first in the 6- to 12-year-old bracket at the seventh annual Big Bucks Junior Dragster Race at the Samoa Dragstrip.

He beat out a deep field of racers from both Humboldt County and outside of the area on his way to the impressive win.

And in doing so, he earned himself the coveted Redwood Wally trophy.

And that gets him the nod for our athlete of the week.

It was also a big week for a new local team that will begin competing this coming winter.

The return of Cal Poly Humboldt wrestling for the first time since the early 1990s has given the sport a big boost locally, and the excitement continued to build this week with the news that a legendary coach has joined the staff.

The Lumberjacks added three-time Division-I national championship winning coach Jim Zalesky to the staff, where he will join his brother and head coach Lennie Zalesky.

And that’s great news for the local wrestling program and something that has local fans even more excited about the upcoming season.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Cameron Ellsworth

Junior Drag Racer

Ellsworth beat out a deep field of racers to win one of the biggest youth drag races of the summer at the Samoa Dragstrip last weekend.

The local racer placed first in the 6- to 12-year-old bracket.

In addition to his big victory, Ellsworth remains the thick of the race for the season championship as we head into the business end of the campaign.

The young racer, who clearly has a bright future in the sport, is second in the season standings and trails season leader Jeremy Johnson by just 30 points.

For more on his big week, see Ellsworth leads the way at 7th annual Big Bucks Junior Dragster Race …

Photo by Cal Poly Humboldt Athletics

TEAM OF THE WEEK 

Cal Poly Humboldt Wrestling

The Jacks were big winners this week after landing one of the more respected college coaches in the nation to their roster.

A member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, Jim Zalesky brings a remarkable record of success to Cal Poly Humboldt and has 23 years experience as a Division-I coach in the sport.

He was the head coach at Iowa from 1997 to 2006, leading the Hawkeyes to the NCAA title in 1998, 1999 and 2000, and he also has served as head coach at Oregon State and most recently at the University of Jamestown.

All in all, it was a very good week for a team that is still a few months away from its first competition.

For more the story, see New Cal Poly Humboldt coach brings wealth of experience …