FORTVILLE — Earlier this month, Mt. Vernon wrestling coach Chad Masters was looking forward to some sort of normalcy.
After spending the required time in COVID-19 contact tracing quarantine prior to and shortly after the Marauders’ season opener against Western on Dec. 2, Masters played the waiting game before returning to the wrestling room.
The Marauders had recently competed in the Shamrock Duals on Dec. 5, and finally, Masters was cleared to work with his team again.
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Even his assistant coach Randal Hayes joked with him about being present because he had been absent for so long.
Little did Masters know, his come back would last less than 48 hours.
“One day,” Masters remarked on the time he’s spent coaching in-person this season. “It was just really weird because I hadn’t been there for so long. I figured it would take me a day or two get back into the flow of things, and then we’re shut down again. It was really hard for me, so I can’t imagine what it would be like for a kid in any sport or even school.”
As has become commonplace this winter sports season across the state, the Mt. Vernon wrestling program was forced to shut down this month due to COVID-19 quarantines, including multiple positive cases, according to Masters.
Those contact tracing Mt. Vernon wrestlers not showing any symptoms can resume activity this Monday, but trying to maintain any fluidity in training and competition has become a challenge for wrestling and other various sports.
This winter, several area sports programs have lost athletes due to quarantines, typically at 14 days in duration, while some have had to cease operations momentarily to prevent the potential spread of the coronavirus.
The Mt. Vernon girls basketball team felt the impact these past few weeks while in quarantine. The Eastern Hancock boys basketball team was also shut down following their season opener last month before returning last week.
The New Palestine wrestling team had to delay the opening of its season due to quarantines and other sports programs have been tasked with finding ways to fill in the holes with depth as coaches and student-athletes adhere to the safety protocols set by the state and Hancock County Health Department.
Even those not directly affected by in-house quarantines are contending with the unpredictable issues faced during the pandemic era. The Mt. Vernon boys basketball team has had several postponements on their schedule due to other schools’ programs going into quarantine.
The climate is uncharted similar to the fall sports season, but it’s become, in a way, the new normal, Masters said.
“Right now, it seems like there is always someone contact traced out, and due to HIPAA, sometimes you don’t know,” Masters said. “They aren’t at practice, and then you check and find out they’re out. I have the attendance sheet, and I have never had so many Es on my attendance sheet. Usually if a kid misses, he’s probably in detention or (ineligible), but we’re marking down Es everywhere, excused. It’s just really weird.”
As of now, the Marauders are idle after netting five dual wins, including their last on Dec. 5 against Fishers (42-30), Fort Wayne Northrop (58-18) and Homestead (51-21).
As it stands currently, Mt. Vernon’s next opportunity to claim a win will be against Hoosier Heritage Conference opponent Pendleton Heights on Jan. 6.
“We’re not too bad, just missing out on a dual (against New Palestine), a tournament and a JV tournament,” Masters said. “But the thing is, I was texting with Josh (Holden, the head coach at Greenfield-Central), and he said, it’s really hard to know how good you are or anybody else is right now.
“Greenfield beat Avon, but they had seven or eight forfeits. New Pal beat Roncalli, but Roncalli had forfeits at 195, 220 and heavy. Realy, whenever conference comes, it’s going to come down to whoever is healthy.”
Precautions remain the focus for the Marauders and others. Prior to their quarantine, the Marauders wrestlers were practicing in 2-3 person pods, warming up in 10-minute increments to avoid 15-minute potential exposures and only drilled with one, or at most two or three other people.
The hope is to minimize the loss, if and when someone is pulled for quarantine.
“A lot of times, the kids will know because it happens so much, and I’m sure it’s the same at other schools, when a kid gets pulled out of class and they take their stuff and don’t come back. And, then they’re not there the next day, you can kind of guess, who has been traced out,” Masters said. “It just happens so frequently.”
Worse yet, Masters remarked, is the weight of possibly hurting another school’s chances at competing.
Similar to Eastern Hancock boys basketball, which played Adams Central on Nov. 25, the Royals were sent into a 14-day contact tracing quarantine due to a positive case on the opposing sideline.
Fortunately, the Marauders didn’t cost anyone else time on the mat.
“That was one of the things that made me nervous, too; I don’t want to be that team either, and thankfully, we didn’t because of the 48-hour rule, that puts someone out for 14 days or mess up a lineup where they can’t compete because they wrestle us,” Masters said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for COVID-19, a close contact is defined as any individual who was within six feet of an infected person for a total of 15 minutes or more starting from 48 hours before the person began feeling sick until the time the patient is isolated.
“When we come back (Monday), unless a kid is sick, they will be able to return after being out the proper days as defined by the health department,” Masters said. “Then, we have to monitor it, and if you see a kid that doesn’t look like he’s feeling well, you have to ask and get him out of the room as soon as possible and send him home. If they’re out and they show symptoms, they’re out 14 days unless they test positive.”
Masters, like others, hopes this wave of quarantines will be the last for some time with development of his younger student-athletes dwindling by the day.
“It’s extremely difficult. I talked to Randal (Hayes) before this, and we had a lot of our varsity out, and when you’re looking at practice, it’s almost like we have a separate JV practice going on. You’re trying to teach these kids technique,” Masters said. “You’re trying to teach them, and then you get a break like we’ve had, and we’re going to have to go back to square one because they are just not going to retain it. They haven’t done it enough.
“Those young kids, those new kids, it’s almost going to be like a lost season for them, especially, if we can’t get them matches. I think, it’s going to set us back and schools our size. I think it will just because you won’t have a fully dedicated season to help each individual kid.”
