State officials in New Hampshire are urging people who participated in or attended a wrestling tournament in Hampton earlier in the month to get tested for the coronavirus after multiple positive cases were linked to the event.
State health officials said the King of the Mat Wrestling Tournament, held at the RIM Sports Complex in Hampton on March 6, has been linked to multiple confirmed cases of COVID-19, saying potential exposure took place between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m.
After a lot of time away from the mat, Nicholas Starkey said his 10-year-old son, Owen, was excited to get back.
Five days after the tournament at the RIM Sports Complex, Starkey said he got an email about several cases of COVID-19 linked to the event.
A few days after that, both he and his son tested positive for the virus.
“This was his first tournament in a year. We went back and forth on whether he should do it,” Starkey said.
They’re now in isolation at their home in southern Maine.
“He had a slight fever. He seems to be fine, no other symptoms now,” Starkey said. “I just have a runny, stuffy nose and then just very lethargic.”
RIM Sports Complex released a statement on social media that read: “The Wrestling Promoter, who was responsible for the tournament, has done its due diligence by contacting every program and officials who participated that day. Upon hearing the news, The Rim Sports Complex has taken the necessary steps to sanitize and disinfect our entire facility.”
Starkey said more should’ve been done the day of the event, as was promised in an email sent out before by the tournament director.
“It said check-in table would be outside. It wasn’t. It was inside. It said there would be two lines for check-in. There was just one cluster of people that got pushed through the doors,” he said. “They technically did a temperature check, but he was going around so fast that I doubt he really got proper temp checks from everyone.”
Anyone who participated in or attended the tournament during those times may have been exposed to COVID-19 and should seek testing, officials said. The state is also overseeing contact tracing of people who attended the tournament.
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