How to Fill Out the IHSAA Wrestling Skin Lesion Release Form

The IHSAA wrestling skin lesion form is a one-page physician’s clearance that an Indiana high school wrestler needs any time a referee or coach spots a skin condition that might be communicable. A Medical Doctor (M.D.) or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) examines the lesion, completes the form, and certifies that the wrestler is safe for contact competition. You hand the completed form to the referee or opposing head coach at weigh-ins. No form, no match.¹

Indiana uses the official NFHS/IHSAA Skin Lesion Physician’s Form, and it is the only documentation referees will accept.¹ Your school’s athletic director has copies, and the current version is on the NFHS website. Grab a few blanks early in the season.

Who Can Sign the Form

The IHSAA requires a physician with an unlimited license to practice medicine. In Indiana, that means an M.D. or a D.O.¹ The NFHS lets each state decide which health-care professionals qualify, and some states accept Physician Assistants, Nurse Practitioners, or Chiropractors. Those signatures may not satisfy IHSAA officials at an Indiana meet.

If your regular provider is a PA or NP, you’ll need the supervising physician to sign, or you’ll need to find an M.D. or D.O. who can do the evaluation. Urgent care clinics staffed by physicians handle this kind of visit routinely. Expect to pay somewhere between $50 and $350 out of pocket, depending on insurance and the complexity of the evaluation.

The Seven-Day Validity Window

The IHSAA caps the form’s validity at seven days from the date of the physician’s examination.¹ A form dated eight days before weigh-ins is worthless. Time the appointment so the exam date lands within that seven-day window before competition.

Wrestlers competing on back-to-back weekends often get caught here. A form signed on Monday may clear Friday’s dual but expire before Saturday’s tournament the following week. Count the days before you book the visit.

What the Physician Must Document

The form has two parts. You or a parent can complete the personal information section before the appointment: wrestler’s full name, school (match the official IHSAA roster name, not a nickname), and weight class. Some versions include a field for the date of the upcoming competition.

The physician fills out the medical section, which must include:

The specific diagnosis, written with the medical name of the condition (for example, “tinea corporis” rather than “ringworm”).
The date of examination, which anchors the seven-day window.
Lesion locations marked on the front-and-back body silhouettes printed on the form, with a count of how many are present.²
The medication name, dose, frequency, and number of days prescribed, whether that’s an oral antibiotic, a topical antifungal, or an antiviral.
A written statement that the condition is not communicable and the wrestler can safely participate in contact sports.

Blank fields and illegible handwriting get the form rejected at weigh-ins, regardless of what the doctor said verbally. A printed or typed form is better than handwritten. Ask the provider to print clearly if typing isn’t an option.

Treatment Minimums Before a Doctor Will Sign

The NFHS form itself sets the minimum treatment periods a wrestler must complete before a physician can clear them. These are the benchmarks the examining doctor applies.

Bacterial Infections

For impetigo and boils, every lesion must be scabbed over with no oozing, and no new lesions can have appeared in the preceding 48 hours. A minimum of 72 hours on an oral antibiotic is required to reach that state. If lesions keep developing or draining after 72 hours of treatment, the physician should evaluate for MRSA.³

Herpes Simplex and Herpes Gladiatorum

Herpes carries the longest timelines. A first episode requires at least 10 days of treatment before the wrestler can compete, extended to 14 days if fever or swollen lymph nodes are present. Recurrent outbreaks require a minimum of 120 hours (five full days) on an oral antiviral, with all lesions scabbed over and no new ones developing.³

Ringworm

Skin ringworm requires a minimum of 72 hours on oral or topical antifungal therapy. Scalp ringworm requires 14 days of oral treatment before clearance.³ That two-week scalp timeline is the one that catches families off guard most often.

If treatment just started, count the required hours carefully. A wrestler who began antibiotics on Wednesday evening cannot hit the 72-hour minimum for a Saturday morning weigh-in.

Covering a Lesion Does Not Substitute for the Form

Taping or bandaging over a contagious lesion does not make a wrestler eligible. The NFHS rule is explicit: covering a communicable condition is not acceptable and does not create eligibility to participate.⁴ Only after a physician determines the lesion is no longer contagious and signs the clearance form can it be covered with a bio-occlusive dressing to protect it from further injury during the match.⁵

Season-Long Clearance for Chronic Conditions

Some skin conditions aren’t contagious at all. If a wrestler has a birthmark, psoriasis, or eczema, the physician can note that on the form and certify it as non-communicable. Under NFHS Rule 4-2-5, that documentation is valid for the entire season, so you don’t need a new form before every meet.⁴ One caveat: a chronic condition can become secondarily infected, and if that happens, the wrestler needs a fresh evaluation before returning to the mat. Keep the season-long form with the meet paperwork so it’s available at every weigh-in.

Handing It In at Weigh-Ins

Bring the completed form to every competition and give it to the referee or opposing head coach at weigh-ins. If the form isn’t presented at weigh-ins, the wrestler is out for that event.¹ The only exception is when a designated on-site physician or health-care professional is present and can examine the wrestler at the meet.

At multi-day events, including the IHSAA state tournament, skin checks happen on every day of competition. A wrestler cleared on Friday still gets inspected on Saturday, and the on-site professional can pull them if a cleared condition has worsened overnight.⁶

Even with a signed form, the designated on-site health-care professional at the meet can overrule it. Under NFHS Rule 4-2-4, that on-site professional (an M.D., D.O., PA, Certified Nurse Practitioner, or Certified Athletic Trainer) can decide the wrestler should not participate despite the clearance, or can clear a wrestler whose condition has improved since the form was issued.⁷ A lesion that looks active, weeping, or different from what the form describes gives the on-site professional grounds to hold the wrestler out.

Common Reasons Forms Get Rejected

Most disqualifications come down to the same preventable mistakes:

The form is more than seven days old.
A PA or NP signed instead of an M.D. or D.O.
The body silhouette has no lesion markings, only a written description.
Medication details are missing: no drug name, no dose, no days on treatment.
The handwriting can’t be read.
A contagious lesion was bandaged in hopes officials wouldn’t notice.

Schedule the physician visit early in the week before a weekend competition. That buys time to fix any issues with the paperwork and keeps the seven-day window comfortably over the event.

1
Indiana High School Athletic Association. IHSAA Wrestling Weight Management and Skin Lesions Handbook
2
Iowa High School Athletic Association. Wrestling Skin Condition Report
3
Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association. NFHS Medical Release Form for Wrestler to Participate with Skin Lesion(s)
4
National Federation of State High School Associations. NFHS Medical Release Form for Wrestler to Participate with Skin Lesion(s)
5
National Federation of State High School Associations. Sports-Related Skin Infections Position Statement and Guidelines
6
Vermont Principals’ Association. Wrestling With Skin Issues
7
New Mexico Activities Association. NFHS Medical Release Form for Wrestler to Participate with Skin Lesion(s)