Bobcats return to mat Thursday at home
The Gilmer High School wrestling program has been hit hard by season illness and had to forego two varsity events.
The GHS Bobcats first started feeling the effects after the Cleveland Duals Dec. 11. Some wrestlers, as well as coaches, began experiencing flu-like symptoms, which led to the cancellation of a home quad match Dec. 15.
Gilmer was also scheduled to attend a dual tournament at Coahulla Creek High School Dec. 17-18. After the Bobcats competed on the first day, they opted to sit out day two when some got sick before the bus departed.
“We went to day one at Coahulla Creek, and as the tournament was going on, it seemed like we had more people who were getting sick,” said head coach Josh Ghobadpoor. “They physically weren’t where they needed to be. We thought we had enough people to patch it up to get matches, but as the day went on, we lost more people.
“It was a collection of tough circumstances. One person got sick, and we didn’t know if it could be COVID related, or if it was just the flu. We tried to play it safe for ourselves, as well as for the other teams.”
Ghobadpoor said no one in the program has tested positive for COVID.
“We don’t have any COVID cases, fortunately,” he said. “It’s just been a real bad case of the flu. Then we’ve had some with some strep-throat type sickness.”
Gilmer was also supposed to compete in junior varsity and girls tournaments last week. However, those wrestlers were sidelined as well, and Ghobadpoor opted to not attend either event.
Practice last week was canceled as wrestlers were given time to rest and recover.
“I just wanted to try and get everyone away from each other so they can get healthy going into this week. And then that leads right into our postseason run,” Ghobadpoor said.
GHS returned to practice Monday. The team is also nursing some injuries, and Ghobadpoor hopes wrestlers who still need to recuperate do so as end-of-the-season tournaments approach.
“I have a couple that are still sick with the flu. I had one call me last night (Sunday) who spent the night in the hospital with pneumonia,” Ghobadpoor said. “Another one, who was one of the few that didn’t get sick, got sick. It’s still around, but not as prevalent. I think it’s ran through everybody at a certain point.
“I’m hoping we can fill those holes, and we should have some quality people behind those guys to step in. We’re less than a month away from area, sectionals and state. It’s really already here, and we have to acknowledge that, get excited and step up our game a little bit.”
GHS will host the Bobcat Duals Thursday at 10 a.m. Seniors will be recognized after the third round.