COOPERSVILLE, Mich. (AP) — One of Michigan’s top high school wrestlers who is on the sidelines because of strict COVID-19 rules has failed to persuade a judge to get him into the weekend state tournament.
Ottawa County Judge Karen Miedema declined to intervene Friday, said David Kallman, an attorney for Tyler Janssen of Coopersville High School in western Michigan.
“Tyler is the No. 1 wrestler in the state in his weight class. ... This could adversely impact his college prospects,” Kallman told The Associated Press.
The county health department ordered Janssen into a 10-day quarantine on March 12 after being told that he was near a classmate who tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the lawsuit.
Janssen, a senior, has tested negative each day during his quarantine, which ends Sunday — a day late for the wrestling tournament, Kallman said.
Marcia Mansaray of the local health department acknowledged that federal guidance calls for a seven-day quarantine. But the Michigan health department, she said, is sticking with 10 days.
“If we were in the wrong fighting for what we’re fighting for, we’d take a step back and it would be fine,” Janssen said. “But it’s the fact that we’ve tried to follow every guideline, every protocol there is. My voice feels like it’s not getting heard by anybody. That’s my biggest frustration.”
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