People are justifiably upset about the herpes gladiatorum mess. Athletes in this tough sport deserve better.
By John Millea, Star Tribune
Here’s one thing I know about wrestling: I could never hack it.
I was a basketball player in high school, but my buddies on the wrestling team invited me to work out with them. I tried it. Once. Those guys were in better shape than I was, they were stronger than I was and they were far more dedicated to their sport than I was to mine.
Here’s another thing I know about wrestling: If herpes gladiatorum were called “blotchy gladiatorum “(or anything but “herpes”) wrestlers wouldn’t have to take so much abuse from uninformed people who don’t realize that if they’ve ever had a cold sore, it’s the same virus.
“The kids that make fun of us, they don’t really know what’s going on, “said Champlin Park junior heavyweight Sam Maresh, who is a defending state champion.
And I also know this: The story of the wrestling shutdown due to that contagious skin disease was handled poorly on several fronts, including the media. In announcing the shutdown, the Minnesota State High School League pointed to “a team tournament held in Rochester on December 29-30.”
A representative of that tournament, The Clash, told me that same day, “Apparently what happened is Scott West and Kasson-Mantorville reported outbreaks within a week to 10 days. And the only common opponent they had was Valentine, Nebraska, at The Clash. And it was the same weight class in both cases, so it pointed to the same kid. Clearly there’s no way anybody can point and say this is absolutely the original cause, but I’ve been on the phone to the Nebraska state high school league and talking to them about it.”
Also that day, I spoke with Valentine athletic director Rick Hesse. He told me that none of his school’s wrestlers had been diagnosed with the herpes gladiatorum virus before or after The Clash, so I did not report what the person from The Clash had said. But he told other media outlets the same thing, they didn’t verify it, and the story was off and running and infecting everything it touched.
The next day I saw this headline on a national website: “Nebraska wrestler fingered in Minnesota herpes outbreak.”
The folks in Valentine are outraged, and rightfully so. This week, Valentine school officials sent a letter to the Star Tribune, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, The Clash and MSHSL skin expert Dr. B.J. Anderson. The letter is a rebuke to everyone in Minnesota who put the Nebraska kids’ heads on the chopping block.
The letter talks about “throwing wild and unproven accusations at others. “It refers to the humiliation caused by charges that have been “unwarranted and unfounded by anyone with any sense and experience.”
I talked to Hesse again Thursday. He said, “About the only thing we could hope for is that someone might halfway apologize to us. “They’re still hoping.
Being misunderstood is not new to wrestling. Until my one day in the high school wrestling room, I didn’t appreciate what wrestlers go through.
I watched a match at Anoka High School on Wednesday, where I chatted with Brandon Paulson. He was a three-time state champion at Anoka, an All-American with the Gophers and winner of a silver medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 1996 Olympics.
I asked him about the dedication and sacrifice it takes to be a wrestler.
“It’s not like a sport that you go and play, “he said. “Wrestling is not a game. You go out there and try and beat on the other guy and try and dominate the other guy. And while you’re doing it, the other guy’s trying to do the same thing to you. So it’s an exhausting, tiring sport. But the best part about it is when you achieve something, you know you had to work so hard to do it.
“The guys that do achieve something, it’s a special feeling. And even guys that don’t, they know that even to make it through a practice isn’t something every human being can do. To me, it’s the toughest sport in the world.”
It’s also a sport, along with its participants, that deserves more respect than it has received lately.
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