San Jose high school wrestler says he contracted herpes during match

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- A South Bay high school athlete says he got herpes from a wrestling mat. Now he wants a weekend tournament postponed to protect other students.

Blake Flovin says he was diagnosed with herpes gladiatorum, caused by the herpes virus.

He showed ABC7 News the outbreak of lesions on his face.

Flovin thinks he contracted the virus while wrestling at a tournament at Independence High School in San Jose last month.

He's concerned he could have spread the infection to other wrestlers during recent practice sessions.

Now he wants officials to postpone this weekend's state tournament until the incubation period for the exposed athletes is over.

"Either they need to be stopped from wrestling or the state tournament needs to be postponed. Just trying to prevent this disease from getting to other people," he says.

"Kids going to the state tournament, if it's to goes on, they should know about the risks of this and what they could be exposed to," Flovin's mother, Rena, says.

Herpes gladiatorum is a lifelong infection that can flare up after the initial outbreak.

It's prevalent in the wrestling community.

School officials say wrestlers must pass a skin inspection before stepping onto the mats.

The California Interscholastic Federation says the tournament will go on, per national protocol, and doctors will be on hand.