Quick On Your Feet
Wrestlers ready for a season like no other
Matches have yet to be conducted, and only a handful of practices have taken place.
Even so, the 2021 high-school wrestling season is taking shape as one of the more unique and unusual seen at any time. Between the COVID-19 pandemic and a change in post-season format, the season will take its place in the sport’s history in Pennsylvania as one where “normal” events will be anything but.
Safety concerns arising from the pandemic are forcing a number of requirements on the participants and their venues.
Wrestlers will be required to wear masks during competition to cover their mouths and noses in an attempt to prevent the spread of the virus. They will no longer shake hands prior to or after the match, another change to mitigate the spread.
To signal the winner, the referee will raise his own hand with the green wristband for the home wrestler, or the red wristband for the visitor.
“You’re not going to see (postmatch) interactions like in past,” Upper Perkiomen head coach Steve Adam said.
Things unseen since wrestling became an interscholastic sport in the Keystone State will be on display ... for the few fans who will be able to attend due to indoor capacity limits during the coronavirus pandemic. Others can watch on the various livestreaming services provided by the home schools.
At Upper Perkiomen, home matches will have two mats set up in the gym. A weight class will wrestle on one mat, then next match will be conducted on the other mat while the first one is being sanitized.
Mask acclimation has become a key phase of the practices leading up to the start of matches. Adam has been researching various styles of masks to find one that meets all necessary requirements.
“The whole mask acclimation, we want to find which style is more comfortable and will stay on,” he said. “Practice speed is different from competition speed.