A witness captured disturbing footage showing a youth wrestler busting his opponent in the face after losing a match.
TMZ reported Tuesday that the assault happened in Oak Park, Illinois on April 8. The two wrestlers were competing in a third-place 125-128 pound match at the 2023 Beat the Streets Developmental FS tournament.
Spar Academy’s Cooper Corder (who is in orange) easily defeated Maine West High School’s Hafid Alicea (in blue) by a 14-2 score.
In the video below, the referee gestures for both wrestlers to come to the center of the mat so they can shake hands. Once Alicea arrives, Corder extends his hand.
This is when things take a shocking turn. Alicea suddenly punches his victorious opponent square in the face, sending him tumbling to the floor.
WATCH:
Hafid Alicea of Maine West (IL) throws a sucker punch at the line… #wtf pic.twitter.com/9m4HAxl2oF
— The Wrestling Room (Pat Mineo) (@MrPatMineo) April 14, 2023
Alicea is then escorted off the mat by crowd observers while two other individuals run to check on Corder.
TMZ reports that Corder suffered a broken nose and is now wearing a facemask at other wrestling events.
SPAR Academy founder Justin Pearch told TMZ there was no excuse for the punch.
He (Corder) is making the best of the situation and is already back to training. As you may know, wrestling matches can get heated but nothing leading up to the punch would give cause to such bad decision-making on the opponent’s part.
It’s not tolerated in our sport and Spar Wrestling will never condone that behavior.
According to Fox 32 Chicago, Corder’s family intends to pursue criminal charges.
Oak County Police on Tuesday told TMZ that the incident is under investigation.
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