State Tournament Covid 19 Casualties

[Bearhugger]

A blown knee was the only thing that could stop Braxton Amos in high school.

Dislocated elbows, broken arms, bad grades, disciplinary issues and even skin diseases have shut down many top contenders. However, when these things happen, the wrestler has little to no recourse.

However, this past season was different. We had perfectly healthy wrestlers kept out of the state tournament because they “allegedly” came in contact with a student who had tested positive. One situation involved a wrestler sitting in a waiting room for less than 5 minutes with a positive case. BOTH were wearing masks. The “banned” wrestler tested negative twice. Still banned.

I have heard some of these cases came down to principals getting out tape measurers and determining if a table was less than or greater than six feet.
Many wrestlers lost their chance to compete in a regional or state tournament because of medical decisions made by non-medical personnel. Despite negative tests from medical testing, some non-medical decision makers still said “no”. The testing is more scientific than a principal. Follow the science!!!

Wrestling is filled with many “on any given day this and any given day that”. I believe it too. However, I do not believe any wrestler is going to “on any given day” his or her way to a state title.

Head-to-head competition and common opponents are the focus now. I want to draw attention to two wrestlers that would have been game changers if they could have competed in the 2021 WV state tournaments.

1. Bridgeport’s 285 Kamar Summers. Summers was undefeated. He defeated Wheeling Park’s Tamburin 7-3 in the finals of AAA Region 1. In a 285 pound match, a pin could be called a fluke, but a 7-3 decision is a solid “out wrestled” situation. In the following days, Summers gets banned from the state tournament due to Covid exposure and Tamburin wins the 285 AAA state title.

2. Independence’s 138 Judah Price. Price had no head-to-head competition with the eventual state champion Blake Boyers of East Fairmont. However, they shared two significant opponents during this brief season. Oak Glen’s Dlugopolski was the eventual state 5th placer at 138. Boyers defeated him 6-0 in the finals of AA/A region 1. Price defeated Dlugopolski by way of tech fall 25-10. Point Pleasant’s Freeman was the eventual state runner up at 138. Boyers defeated him 3-0 in the state finals. Price defeated Freeman by way of major decision 11-1. Furthermore, Price defeated both of these wrestlers on the same day in a quad that also involved Hoover. This was on March 6th.

[mscoach200]

Doesn't mean he would have then. Was a shame he didnt get to compete.

[Bearhugger]

Doesn't mean he would have then. Was a shame he didnt get to compete.

What doesn't mean who would have what then?

[mscoach200]

Sorry, Was referring to Price defeating Freeman again or for that matter the wrestler from Oak Glen.

[Bearhugger]

Sorry, Was referring to Price defeating Freeman again or for that matter the wrestler from Oak Glen.

There is no guarantee that anybody would beat anybody the second time around. There is a high probability that if Price would have been allowed into the state tournament, things would have been different for all top 6 placers.