Erie County Wrestlers Sitting Out As Other Counties Begin

It's been tough for students and parents to keep up with rules and regulations of high school sports these days. With respect to wrestling, it differs from county to county.

If you have a student athlete in school these days, it can be tough. As a parent, you want them to get the most out of their schooling. That means everything, from instruction in the classroom to extracurricular activities. But...you also want to be sure to keep them safe. At the same time, just like adults, many kids are ready to get back to normal. They want to be with their friends...doing things that kids do.

That's what makes it difficult to make rules for high school sports. You would hope that the people in charge want what's best for the students too.

When it comes to sports that they consider "high risk" in Section VI (our section of the state here in Western New York) the regulations have been placed in the hands of the individual counties. So on the recommendations from the health departments in Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Niagara, and Orleans Counties, wrestling will be allowed to resume. However, the Erie County Department of Health has not been able to change their recommendation that they originally gave in January not to allow wrestling to proceed.

“As we have done since the start of this public health crisis, we will continue to rely upon the expertise, knowledge, and recommendations from local and state authorities when making decisions impacting the safety of our student-athletes” - Section VI President Brett Banker

It's interesting to see this take on WGRZ from a parent and wrestling coach where he looks at the actual possibility of transmission through wrestling:

You have 10 kids on a basketball court all at once, so realistically one player has exposure to nine other players. Then you have substitutions coming off the bench, so what’s that … 15 or 16 exposures per player? Wrestling is one on one, with no substitutions." - Jeff Schoenthal, the father of a high school wrestler and a wrestling coach

It has to be the hardest thing for these students. To see other kids your age being able to participate in a sport that you've been working at your whole life and you cannot.

It's not over yet though. The season has not been cancelled. The decision essentially rests on the shoulders of the ECDOH. They get to make the call at this point. If they end up changing their stance before the season starts, Erie County schools will be approved to begin through Section VI.