Gator Brawl Wrestling tournament canceled due to COVID-19 concerns
by: S. Brady Calhoun
UPDATE 5:36 P.M. 1/15/20 – The Gator Brawl Wrestling tournament has now been canceled due to COVID-19 concerns in Gulf County.
There is no update on whether the tournament will be rescheduled for a later date.
The news comes after Bay District teams participating in the tournament dropped out on Thursday due to COVID-19 concerns.
BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) – Local high school grapplers will not be able to compete in a wrestling tournament this weekend because of coronavirus concerns in Gulf County.
Gulf County schools are closed due to COVID-19 concerns there and the Gator Brawl Wrestling Tournament was scheduled to take place in Wewahitchka Saturday.
"After consulting with our district nursing team and our coaches, Bay District Schools made the difficult decision to cancel all participation in athletics in Gulf County this weekend," District officials wrote in a statement. "We are aware that Gulf County schools are currently closed due to COVID concerns and it's best that our student-athletes not travel there this weekend. We know this is disappointing for our athletes, our coaches and our families but we will always err on the side of student safety."
Bay, Arnold, Bozeman, Rutherford, and Mosley were all set to compete but they will now not be able to do so.
"It does put a little bit of hurt on the tournament, but we'll still have 13 quality teams there, you just got to go with the flow, it's uncertain time you've just got to be flexible and just do the best you can with what you have," said Wewahitchka head wrestling coach Tracy Malcolm.
Wewahitchka has only had one positive case of COVID-19 at the high school and it is not a hazard to the tournament or the schools' wrestling team.
The only other school in Gulf County that participates in FHSAA athletics is Port St. Joe, the Tiger Sharks do not have a wrestling team, so they will not be at the tournament.
Temperatures will be taken of everyone who enters the gym. Mask will be required and may only be removed when athletes are actively wrestling or coaches are actively coaching.
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