At least one Iowa high school wrestler is infected after an outbreak of herpes gladiatorum in Minnesota. The Minnesota State High School League is suspending wrestling in the state for eight days because of the outbreak. Officials say 24 cases of the virus have been reported by ten teams, including Kasson-Mantorville, a team that two weekends ago participated in the Osage Duals tournament.
The virus is spread by skin-to-skin contact, with symptoms including lesions on the face, head, and neck of wrestlers. Clear Lake wrestling coach Gary Weber confirms one of his wrestlers has missed the past week and is being treated for the disease. The coaches for the other teams involved, Osage, Emmetsburg, and
Independence, have not reported any of their wrestlers having symptoms. Minnesota has banned competitions and direct contact between wrestlers in practice until February 6th. Minnesota state officials decided to halt wrestling activities to try and control the current outbreak, allow time to diagnose new cases, and prevent disqualifications during the upcoming tournament series leading up to the Minnesota state tournament February 28th through March 3rd.