The Quad-City Times - News, Sports and more from the Quad Cities region or Iowa and Illinois

You are not logged in.
Login

Log in to qctimes.com
Email:
Password:
Remember my information.
Register
Quadsville
Site Help

Wrestler with MRSA allowed to compete

Font Size:

By Jon Gremmels | Sunday, January 13, 2008 |

Dan Knight is upset that one of his Bettendorf wrestlers competed against an opponent with the MRSA virus Thursday night. Davenport Assumption coach Pete Bush is upset, too, because he said had he known, he wouldn’t have let the young man wrestle.

“I would never have done that,” Bush said. “Wrestling is not so important that you put it above the kids. That’s exactly the opposite of what I want to do.”

But Knight and Bush confirmed that it did happen. An infected junior at Assumption competed Thursday and pinned a Bettendorf wrestler during the teams’ dual meet, which Bettendorf won 41-31.

“Our kids were put at risk, and I don’t think they needed to be,” Knight, Bettendorf’s head coach, said Saturday after the Bulldogs finished between champion Davenport West and third-place Assumption at the Mississippi Athletic Conference tournament. “It’s a bad deal. I’m not happy that we got put in that situation.”

Neither was Bush, who said he didn’t learn about the severity of the skin issue until Friday, which also is when Knight found out.

“A mother called me yesterday and told me what the nature of it was,” Bush said.

Skin infections are not uncommon in wrestling, and Bush said he learned Monday that his wrestler had one. Bush, who doesn’t work for Assumption except as a coach, said his policy with skin issues was to have the athlete take care of it with his parents since Bush had limited contact with the wrestler.

“Thursday, he came around and said he could wrestle. The first time I heard of MRSA was yesterday,” Bush said.

Knight said someone should have known and prevented the match. “It better not come back to bite us,” he said.

The infected wrestler was in action Saturday, too, but Knight said he “came with a note that said he wasn’t contagious.” Knight added that if the two competitors would have crossed paths again, they would have wrestled. However, they never were matched up.

About MRSA

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, called MRSA, or “the superbug,” does not always respond to medication, although it can be treatable. It is most frequently transmitted by skin-to-skin contact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC.

Jon Gremmels can be contacted at (563) 383-2294 or at jgremmels@qctimes.com.