Bad sportsmanship comes in different forms, but what was seen after a wrestling match takes the cake for one of the worst examples we have seen in quite some time.
Police have launched an investigation into an Illinois youth wrestling match that became ugly after a wrestler sucker-punched his opponent after losing. During the “Beat The Streets” tournament earlier this month at Oak Park River Forest High School in Oak Park, Ill., Hafid Alicea of Maine West High School was defeated by Cooper Corder of SPAR Wrestling Academy.
The final match score was 14-2.
As soon as the match was over, the referee invited the two wrestlers to the center of the mat to shake hands and announce Corder as the winner. However, things went terrible when Alicea went to shake Corder’s hand, but instead punched him square in the face, sending him down to the canvas.
The referee made sure nothing escalated as the parents began screaming in the direction of Alicea.
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Corder reportedly suffered a broken nose from the punch, per TMZ Sports. He will now have to wear a special face mask in upcoming events.
“He is making the best of the situation and is already back to training,” SPAR Academy founder Justin Pearch told TMZ Sports on Tuesday.
“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.”
A spokesperson for the Oak Park Police Dept. told TMZ Sports on Tuesday that the parents of the two minors are cooperating with the investigation.
