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Health Departments recommend delaying wrestling

Fredonia’s David Ball (right) grapples with Chautauqua Lake’s Hunter Harris during the 120-pound contest during Wednesday’s wrestling match at Fredonia High School. OBSERVER Photo by Christian Storms.

Western New York Health Department leaders from five counties have recommend that interscholastic, intramural and amateur wrestling teams and leagues cancel or postpone their winter seasons to a later date, when community transmission of COVID-19 is significantly lower.

The leaders of the county health departments — Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie and Niagara — annnounced this recommendation one day after giving the approval for other high-risk winter sports to continue.

Department officials noted wrestling involves participants sparring in very close physical proximity for extended periods of time, which significantly increases the risk of COVID-19 transmission. Similarly, masks, which are a method of COVID-19 risk reduction, are not recommended to be worn during wrestling because of a choking hazard.

Also, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report1 published this week summarized a large COVID outbreak associated with a wrestling tournament in December. Through a case investigation that spanned three counties and included diagnostic testing of contacts, the report noted hundreds of contacts, significant losses of in-person learning days, suspension of all winter indoor and outdoor high school athletics in one county, and one death resulting from multiple exposures during this wrestling tournament.

The circumstances outlined in that brief could easily be replicated at any Western New York wrestling tournament. Department officials said that coaching staffs and parents should consider promoting individual training and distanced group exercises.

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