High school wrestling in Clark County has been put on pause until Jan. 3 after more than 30 COVID-19 cases have been detected among local wrestlers.
The announcement on Thursday came after a recommendation by Clark County Public Health to suspend all wrestling competition, practice and travel due to COVID.
On Wednesday, the Washington State Department of Health announced that more than 80 COVID cases had been traced to wrestling tournaments held Dec. 4 at Lacey, Sumner, Puyallup and Yelm.
Those events involved wrestlers from 13 Washington counties, including Clark.
Clark County Public Health recommended schools pause the sport due to multiple cases of COVID among local wrestlers and the detection of the new Omicron variant among cases linked to the Dec. 4 tournaments.
“As of this afternoon, we have identified 32 cases among wrestling teams at five Clark County schools,” Clark County Public Health spokesperson Marissa Armstrong said. “Some of these cases have been connected to the tournaments DOH announced. Some did not attend those tournaments but participated in other wrestling events in the last two weeks.”
COVID outbreaks have led to several high school basketball games being cancelled over the past week.
“Clark County Public Health is not currently recommending pausing other winter sports,” Armstrong said. “However, we have encouraged schools to review their screening, testing, travel, and masking protocols to ensure they are as robust as possible.”
The shutdown comes just before two large wrestling tournaments were set to take place in Clark County.
Ridgefield High School was set to host the Draper Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
Mountain View was preparing to host the Pacific Coast Championships next week. It’s the area’s largest tournament and was set to include 40 teams from Washington and Oregon.
Ridgefield Athletic Director Brynan Shipley said she is hopeful a rescheduled Draper Invitational will happen in January.
“It is very unfortunate that we have to pause all wrestling activities,” Shipley said. “But we are hopeful that with a break over the next couple of weeks we can have a full return come January 3rd.”
Mountain View Athletic Director Adam Mathieson said he had a feeling before Thursday’s announcement that the Pacific Coast Championships might be in jeopardy.
“Our first and foremost priority is the safety of the kids,” Mathieson said. “Your mind jumps to things like Pac Coast. You go ‘uh oh, I can feel the direction this is going.’ ”
He said it’s unlikely the tournament will be rescheduled, at least at its original scale, due to the sheer number of teams and the desire not to conflict with other tournaments later in the season.
The Ridgefield School District sent a letter Thursday informing wrestlers, coaches and parents of the pause.
“It is the hope that taking this action now will help slow transmission and provide time to re-evaluate practices in the new year,” the letter read. “Upon returning from winter break on January 3rd, we will work with Clark County Public Health to discuss a restart plan.”
The letter said regions throughout the state are having similar discussions about pausing wrestling.
Woodland High School Athletic Director Paul Huddleston said that district, which mostly draws from Cowlitz County, will decide Friday whether to pause wrestling.
An announcement from Vancouver Public Schools about the wrestling pause said there have been no reported cases among VPS students linked to the Dec. 4 tournaments. Several students, however, were identified as close contacts.
“We know this is very disappointing to our wrestling athletes, families and fans,” the announcement said. “But we do not want to risk the health of these groups, as well as our greater communities by ignoring this health guidance. Thank you for your patience and understanding.”
Shipley said she understands the frustration among wrestlers, whose 2020 high school season was largely wiped out aside from a few outdoor events in spring of 2021.
Mathieson echoed that sentiment, but said wrestlers and athletes in general are equipped to handle adversity.
“It’s been challenging for that group,” Mathieson said. “There’s going to be natural frustration. But you also have to take a deep breath and say ‘OK, we’re safe. What’s our response going to be when we’re called on to compete.’ ”
