Southern Tier Wrestling will present the first event of its second season, “Gold Rush,” at the Northwest Arena on Saturday, April 1, at 6 p.m. Pictured are current Southern Tier Wrestling tag team champions The Divine Alliance and their manager, Jon Kennedy. Submitted photo by Steve Vincent

Southern Tier Wrestling is set to make its 2017 debut with an annual fundraising event that will benefit the Jamestown Community College wrestling team.

The locally owned independent wrestling company will kick off “Gold Rush,” its fifth event overall and the first of its second season, at Northwest Arena on Saturday, April 1, with a 6 p.m. bell time.

“Gold Rush” will feature a number of live pro-wrestling matchups between several current and rising stars in the independent and professional wrestling circuits. Scheduled to appear thus far are: former WWE Superstar Gene Snitsky, Big Time Bill Collier, Ring of Honor prospect Sean Carr, Kevin Bennett, John McChesney, Ken Kingsley, and others.

Additionally, a tag team championship matchup will take place between rivals The Divine Alliance and The Homewreckers, and an over-the-top rope battle royal will be held to crown a new Southern Tier Wrestling heavyweight champion.

Although this year marks the second time the Southern Tier Wrestling name has been attached to the annual JCC wrestling fundraiser, as last year’s fundraiser served as the company’s debut production, Randy Grey, owner and promoter of Southern Tier Wrestling, has been coordinating the event for the past five years. “Gold Rush” will also mark the second Southern Tier Wrestling event to be held at Northwest Arena, which previously hosted “Masters of the Wrestling Universe” in November.

This is also the first time the JCC wrestling fundraiser is being held off the JCC campus.

“We’ve had it on campus for the first four years, and this year I asked Bill Burk (total fitness director) if we could hold it off-campus,” Grey said. “I used to work with the previous coach, Rodney Waddington, who resigned for personal and health reasons, but this year I spoke with the new coach and got his permission to continue the tradition and help the team out.”

“The way I used to run it was I’d have the team run concessions and then what ever we had left over at the gate, I’d give to them. Now that we’re doing it at the arena, I’m going to give the team a donation based on the difference between what we make at the door and what we pay out of our expenses and make sure they get the rest. So they’ll get a pretty good donation this year.”

Grey said the money given to the JCC wrestling team is used to cover expenses that the college doesn’t cover, such as meal and hotel costs for out-of-area tournaments.

Jon Osterdahl — Southern Tier Wrestling co-owner, writer and promoter — said in a previous interview that the appeal of Southern Tier Wrestling shows is universal in that anybody with even the mildest interest in wrestling or general entertainment can enjoy themselves.

“The main thing I want Jamestown to know is you don’t have to just be a wrestling fanatic to come to our shows, you can just be a lover of anything entertainment or over-the-top antics,” he said. “And our shows are family-friendly; all ages are welcome.”

Presale tickets are available at $20 for front row seats and $10 for general admission. They will also be available at an additional $3 on the day of the show. Doors open at 5 p.m. A 21-and-over after party will be held at Pal Joey’s, 2245 Washington St., Jamestown, following the event’s conclusion. WWE Superstar Gene Snitsky will also make a public appearance at Allegheny Antiques in Warren, Pa., from 1-2:30 p.m. the day of the show.

For more information, find Southern Tier Wrestling on Facebook or visit northwestarena.com.