Iowa Wrestling pauses all team related activities

On Monday night a press release from the Iowa athletic department dropped the bombshell that the medical staff has suspended all team related activities following positive Covid-19 tests within the wrestling program.

@RobHoweHN

Unfortunately, this also means that the upcoming dual against #4 Penn State has been postponed.

Fortunately, it doesn’t mention the duals against Northwestern and Wisconsin, respectively scheduled for Feb. 19 and 21.

Following the news of Tom Brands quarantine we knew this was a possibility, so we shouldn’t be shocked by the outcome. Follow that up with Kaleb Young’s positive test prior to the Purdue dual and it was all but certain that this was going to happen. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be disappointed, frustrated, or worried about the future.

The good news is, we have two duals remaining, but more importantly, we’re still a month away from the Big Tens.

Had this happened two or three weeks from now, then we’d be in trouble, but as it is, there’s time to get this under control and get the team dialed back in before the post season gets underway.

Truth be told, this was probably an inevitability and I’m amazed we got this far without a suspension. And we’re certainly not alone as Rutgers, Penn State, and Michigan have all battled the pandemic at one point or another.

We can’t win a championship if we can’t compete. So let’s let the medical staff do their thing: keep the guys safe that are healthy, get the guys healthy that are sick, and buckle down and make sure we get to the post season.

We can do this.