WELLINGTON — Seven high school wrestlers tested negative for a bacterial infection that closed down the Wellington wrestling program last week, county Health Director Ken Pearce said.

The boys were tested after a sophomore wrestler was diagnosed over Christmas break with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA, a staph strain that has become resistant to certain drugs. Wellington Schools Superintendent Victor Cardenzana said the sophomore has returned to class.

Teachers and coaches are urging students to frequently wash their hands and are regularly disinfecting wrestling mats, showers and locker rooms, he said.

One boy tested positive for a regular case of staph, but none of the seven tested students had full-blown MRSA, Pearce said.

MRSA kills 112,000 people in the United States each year.

The first case in the county was identified in November in a student at Marion L. Steele High School in Amherst.

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