Ridge Wrestling Meets Canceled Due to Skin Rash

Thursday's year-end rivalry matchup between the Ridge and Bernards High's  wrestling teams was canceled due to an outbreak of impetigo on the Ridge team, said wrestling participants on Thursday night. It was reported that the boys have been treated.

“We had a few kids with ‘skin issues’ and we decided in the best interest of everybody involved, we would cancel the meet,” Ridge Athletic Director Rich Shello said on Thursday evening. “We can’t make it up because all the matches must be completed by Saturday,” Shello added.

Also canceled were a junior varsity invitational meet at Raritan High School and a quad meet previously scheduled at Ridge.

The wrestling room at Ridge High School also is closed and is due to reopen on Monday, said a member of the wrestling team training stuff.

Impetigo, a skin rash, has a seven-day incubation period and with district tournaments and championships scheduled for February 17-18, the possibility that wrestlers would be excluded from the tournament weighed heavy on the decisions to cancel the event, according to information from the wrestling staff and Shello.

Impetigo is caused by strep or strap bacteria, according to online information from the National Institutes of Health.