The shocking moment a youth wrestler delivered a sucker punch to his opponent after losing, sending his rival crashing to the mat, is being investigated by police.
The incident occurred in Oak Park, Illinois, during a third-place, 125-128 pound match at this year’s edition of the Beat the Street Developmental FS tournament.
Cooper Corder, representing SPAR Academy, defeated Hafid Alicea, of Maine West High School by a score of 14-2, according to TMZ Sports.
The brutal blow came after the match ended, when both minors were set to shake hands, and left parents and students shocked.
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As Cooper, wearing an orange singlet, went to shake hands with Ali, who wore blue, he was taken out in cold fashion by his opponent, sending him straight to the floor.
The eight graders’ parents are cooperating with Oak Park Police Department, a spokesperson confirmed, while there are unconfirmed reports that the victim has pressed charges.
Alicea was immediately taken off the mat by observers in the crowd as other kids and their parents were shocked with what had just transpired.
One woman – who may have been Corder’s mother – could be heard screaming, ‘What the f**k!’ as she rushed over to check on the crumpled Corder.
Corder seems to have come out of the incident a lot better than initially feared, only suffering a nose injury.
But it is understood he will have to wear a face mask during his next matches.
‘He is making the best of the situation and is already back to training,’ SPAR Academy founder Justin Pearch told TMZ Sports.
‘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.’
Cooper’s parents have reportedly filed assault charges, according to Pat Mineo of The Wrestling Room.
Cooper, a talented athlete, is a two-time Illinois state wrestling champion. His social media pages are full of medals, wrestling gear and competition photos.
One observer, who viewed the video on Facebook, wrote: ‘Kids [sic] headed for a hard life if he can’t handle having his ass handed to him any better.’
A Twitter user wrote that Alicea should be banned from any future matches and barred from athletic scholarships. ‘Have his folks pay for damages. Kids these days are a nightmare, can’t deal with loss at all,’ he added.
