Meet The Ron Mexico Memorial League

There would seem to be a rather finite number of reasons an entire high school athletic association would consider suspending all wrestling competitions for more than a week. We'd have to say that a massive herpes breakout might be one of them.

At least 24 cases of Herpes Gladiatorum have been confirmed. Officials first became aware of the outbreak after a tournament in Rochester in December. Since, 10 teams have reported wrestlers with skin lesions involving the face, head or neck. On its website the high school league said it was banning wrestling to prevent transmission of the infection during the upcoming state wrestling meet. The ban ends Feb. 6, and competition can resume on Feb. 7.

Who would have ever thought a high school wrestling gymnasium could be such a virus carrier? Those places are like ICUs, we figured. We'll say this: If we were a Minnesota high school wrestler, or even a "fan," we're not so sure we'd be all that eager to come back on February 7.

Virus Causes High School Wrestling Suspension [Minneapolis Star-Tribune]

(By the way, the worst part about this story: Having to search for a picture to accompany this story. Let us advise you that typing the word "herpes" into Google Images is a very, VERY bad idea.)