MIDDLETOWN — The annual Dennis Jensen Invitational wrestling tournament opens Friday at 10 a.m. and runs through Saturday at the Tallman Gym on the Middletown High campus.
Named after the school’s longtime former wrestling coach, the Dennis Jensen Invitational will award team trophies down to three places and medals to the top six in each weight class. There is also a fastest pin award (Saturday only) and sportsmanship awards voted on by the tournament’s officials.
While most of the weight divisions are for boys, a few girls will be competing although the majority of the Redwood Empire’s girls wrestlers are taking part in the Napa Invitational on Saturday.
“It’s the largest girls tournament in the nation,” Middletown head coach Brian Hunt said. “We gave our girls the option and some want to stay here but we have four going to Napa.”
Wrestlers from all of the Coastal Mountain Conference teams, which includes all the Lake County schools, and with the exception of St. Helena, are competing in Middletown, according to Hunt. That includes a Mendocino High School wrestler who is the only member of his team and works out with the nearby Fort Bragg High School squad.
Other schools will send some wrestlers to the Jensen Invitational are Piner High School of Santa Rosa, Ukiah High School, Ferndale and possibly Eureka.
“We have 12ish teams coming here,” Hunt said. “Justin-Siena (Napa) might be coming.”
While the tournament used to attract even more teams, competition is intense these days because of the increase in the number of tournaments held each and every weekend of the season.
“It’s just harder to get teams now,” Hunt said.
Admission is charged at the gate and a concession stand will be in operation both days of the tournament.
