Casey NLWC email with lots of Covid info

[86PSUPaul]

Here is the email for anyone that did not get it.


Penn State Wrestling Fans!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Hello again to everyone. It seems an appropriate time to send out another update as it looks like we are on for this weekend and I have started to get questions about COVID-19 protocol, will matches be made up, how many guys can you travel, etc. Although we would have been a little shorthanded last week, we were excited to finally compete. Hopefully, everything works out and we will be scrapping with two solid teams this weekend.



It has been quite some time since our guys have been able to wear the Penn State singlet but that delay will come to an end this weekend. We leave Friday for our first trip in almost 10 months and we face off against Northwestern and Indiana. We were supposed to compete two weeks ago against Rutgers but because we were above the threshold of positive athletes we were not able to compete. Last weekend we were cleared to wrestle but our opponent chose not to come.



Lets try to explain the Big Ten Covid protocol a little now. The Big Ten rule is if 7.5% of the guys in your testing pool are positive then your program goes on pause for 7 days. If you have guys who have already had COVID-19 then they do not get tested for 3 months which means they are not in the testing pool. The lower your testing pool numbers then the quicker you get to 7.5% and for us that is having 2 guys test positive. Once a guy test positive then the Big Ten requires them to be out for 17 days and they are no longer in the testing pool. Hopefully everybody is still following with all of that. There are also phases for competition and practice based on number of positives and it is as follows:



∙ Team positivity rate (number of positive tests divided by total number of tests administered):

o Green 0-1.99%

o Orange 2-4.99%

o Red ≥5%

∙ Population positivity rate (number of positive individuals divided by total population at risk):

o Green 0-3.49%

o Orange 3.5-7.49%

o Red ≥7.5%



Decisions Regarding Practice and Competition

Decisions to alter or postpone practice and competition will be based on the following scenarios:

∙ Green/Green and Green/Orange: Team continues with normal practice and competition.

∙ Orange/Orange and Orange/Red: Team must proceed with caution and enhance COVID-19

prevention (alter practice and meeting schedule, consider viability of continuing with scheduled

competition).

∙ Red/Red: Team must stop regular practice and competition for a minimum of seven days and

reassess metrics until improved.





Hopefully that helps to explain a little bit of why there are delays and how easy it is to get to that red phase. Even if a team is in the green phase some schools will choose not to compete like the situation we were in last weekend. With it being very unpredictable from weekend to weekend someone might not be able to wrestle in the Big Ten tournament because of a positive test but could still wrestle in the NCAA tournament with a wild card if they have at least 4 matches.



Will matches be rescheduled and why it is important? We are trying to reschedule our matches with Rutgers and Michigan State and it may or may not happen. We want these matches to happen because like mentioned above they must have 4 matches to qualify a spot at the Big Ten Tourney and to get a wild card but also because our guys want to wrestle. We are trying to work on getting these matches on the schedule but with such a short and condensed season it is becoming more difficult with all the delays. There is another way to get to that 4 match mark though with extra matches at dual meets. We will wrestle our normal dual like in the past and then we are also allowed extra matches against opposing teams. When we travel for a tri meet we are allowed to travel 20 guys and for a single match we can travel 16. This weekend we will travel 20 guys in the hopes of getting everyone a match and in some cases multiple matches for several guys.



This is a lot of maybe useless information for some, but we have had enough questions to at least address it. Ultimately, we just want our guys to have an opportunity to wrestle and are trying to do everything possible to make it happen. In the meantime, this past weekend we had our guys make weight and wrestle off to try to start figuring out our starting lineup. Several guys were unavailable because of Covid protocol and will still be unavailable this weekend but we are excited to see our team compete for the first time. It is going to be an exciting weekend and we hope everyone finds a way to watch our guys get after it.



In Nittany Lion Wrestling Club news our guys and gals have had the opportunity to compete in several NLWC events hosted on Rokfin as I have mentioned in the past. All of these matches have been archived and can be watched at any time. A couple of our guys just came back from competition in France and a short film documenting this trip will be released on Rokfin.com/NLWC in the next couple days. Finally, the NLWC will soon be announcing another event for February with some very exciting match ups.



Thank you for all the support and we look forward to wrestling hard this weekend.



GO LIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dunkej01]

26 guys are our testing pool....interesting

 

[regularfan]

26 guys are our testing pool....interesting

I was doing the math as well but I got a little confused when in the text he wrote 7.5% and the bullet points list 5% for red and that also makes it a 7 day stop according to the email. Not sure why there are two different figures as they seem to have the seem repercussions. It's almost a double edged sword because those no longer in the testing pool should be through NCAAs unless their test came back in like November and they will soon be added back in. However, the smaller the testing pool, the quicker you get to 7.5%. I guess they will be at two now unless the pool gets down to 13 and then just one positive shuts down the week.

Tier 1 is wrestlers, coaches, trainers, officials, and others with close contact to athletes so I would guess that number started around 40.

 

[Kale_yeah]

Yea! he had me at wrestling this weekend. Wonder who is still in protocol?

 

[moug]

Coach seems to be indicating Michigan may have been in the “green” but simply decided not to compete. In their case the whole department shut down, but it seems to indicate any team can just decide not to compete on any given weekend. Am I interpreting this correctly?

 

[86PSUPaul]

Coach seems to be indicating Michigan may have been in the “green” but simply decided not to compete. In their case the whole department shut down, but it seems to indicate any team can just decide not to compete on any given weekend. Am I interpreting this correctly?

I believe it was MSU that chose not to compete against us even though we were in the green.

 

[Raw Daddy]

So, I hate to even throw this out there but if you are clear for 3 months because you tested positive would it beneficial to test positive and then know you are good to go for big tens and NCAAs?

 

[316_Lyons]

So, I hate to even throw this out there but if you are clear for 3 months because you tested positive would it beneficial to test positive and then know you are good to go for big tens and NCAAs?

At this point, probably not given the 17 day quarantine. But a positive test in December/early January would have been just what the doctor ordered!

 

[WreslingFan0314]

At this point, probably not given the 17 day quarantine. But a positive test in December/early January would have been just what the doctor ordered!

Sort of. Even for those with minor symptoms, there are some lingering effects. Some are calling it Covid Fog. It can include low energy, difficulty to focus, short term forgetfulness and even depression type symptoms. It doesn't affect everyone, but it can.

In my case, I tested positive Dec 23. I had been having sinus type issues (which are normal for me around the holidays) along with low energy. Before visiting immediate family on Xmas Eve, my wife and I decided to get tested as she had sinus issues as well, but different symptoms. I tested positive, she was negative. I didn't notice it at first, but my cough, which had been deep and productive, changed to shallow and non-productive. While I could breath normally, I couldn't take deep breaths. The fatigue had continued, which wasn't normal for just a sinusitis. Two days after testing, on Xmas Day, my lungs opened up and I was able to breath deeply again. Aside from being tired, I felt fine and rested as was recommended. After 2 weeks, I tested negative and was cleared to return to work. I started back slowly, not working full days the first 4-5 days back. After that, it was back to normal, except for one thing.

As of today, I still have days where I feel completely normal, others where my energy is low and I tire easily and have had a few where I just didn't want to get out of bed. I still don't feel completely myself. A colleague of mine has a niece in her 20's and is going through the same thing, even more so. More like depression.

I'm just saying this to reiterate that Covid affects people differently, regardless of age. These lingering affects are not felt by everyone, but they could certainly affect an athlete and keep them from optimal performance levels, even if they powered through it.

Ultimately, I never had symptoms much worse than a cold or minor sinusitis. But the ongoing fatigue, even though its not daily at this point, has been different than after any other illness I've had and it has affected my ability to be at my best every day, all day.

 

[CropDuster507]

Sort of. Even for those with minor symptoms, there are some lingering effects. Some are calling it Covid Fog. It can include low energy, difficulty to focus, short term forgetfulness and even depression type symptoms. It doesn't affect everyone, but it can.

In my case, I tested positive Dec 23. I had been having sinus type issues (which are normal for me around the holidays) along with low energy. Before visiting immediate family on Xmas Eve, my wife and I decided to get tested as she had sinus issues as well, but different symptoms. I tested positive, she was negative. I didn't notice it at first, but my cough, which had been deep and productive, changed to shallow and non-productive. While I could breath normally, I couldn't take deep breaths. The fatigue had continued, which wasn't normal for just a sinusitis. Two days after testing, on Xmas Day, my lungs opened up and I was able to breath deeply again. Aside from being tired, I felt fine and rested as was recommended. After 2 weeks, I tested negative and was cleared to return to work. I started back slowly, not working full days the first 4-5 days back. After that, it was back to normal, except for one thing.

As of today, I still have days where I feel completely normal, others where my energy is low and I tire easily and have had a few where I just didn't want to get out of bed. I still don't feel completely myself. A colleague of mine has a niece in her 20's and is going through the same thing, even more so. More like depression.

I'm just saying this to reiterate that Covid affects people differently, regardless of age. These lingering affects are not felt by everyone, but they could certainly affect an athlete and keep them from optimal performance levels, even if they powered through it.

Ultimately, I never had symptoms much worse than a cold or minor sinusitis. But the ongoing fatigue, even though its not daily at this point, has been different than after any other illness I've had and it has affected my ability to be at my best every day, all day.

I heard a very similar thing from someone who had it in November. Focusing was very difficult.

 

[82bordeaux]

Sort of. Even for those with minor symptoms, there are some lingering effects. Some are calling it Covid Fog. It can include low energy, difficulty to focus, short term forgetfulness and even depression type symptoms.

So you're saying Iowa has been battling Covid in March for over a decade.