A horrific video of a young wrestler sucker-punching his opponent after a third-place match in Illinois has gone viral.
The incident took place on April 8 at the “Beat The Streets” tournament at Oak Park River Forest High School in Oak Park, Illinois.
The video captured the conclusion of SPAR Wrestling Academy’s Cooper Corder match with Hafid Alicea of Maine West High School. Corder won the match in a dominant fashion by a score of 14–2.
Following the end of the match, the two wrestlers can be seen meeting on video approaching the center circle of the mat or what is commonly referred to as the “red zone.” The two wrestlers went to the red zone to not only shake hands but for the official announcement of Corder’s victory.
Instead, Alicea landed an unexpected and brutal punch to Corder’s face, immediately dropping the young wrestler to the mat. Corder’s parents ran onto the mat to check on their injured son, with his father looking understandably furious after the incident.
Disgusting footage from #wrestling match in Des Plaines, Illinois.
— Talen Guzman (@TalenGuzman) April 18, 2023
Here is Hafid Alicea (Maine West HS) SUCKER PUNCHING Cooper Corder (SPAR Wrestling Academy) after losing 14-2.
Even worse, he fakes a hand shake and then floors Corder after their Freestyle match for 3rd place. pic.twitter.com/UryZ3O5P1M
According to a TMZ report, Corder suffered a broken nose from the punch and will have to wear a mask in upcoming matches.
Thankfully, it appears that he is already on the road to recovery.
“He is making the best of the situation and is already back to training,” SPAR Academy founder Justin Pearch told TMZ.
The academy’s founder stressed that although matches can be intense, under no circumstances should these types of actions be permitted in the sport.
"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,” added Pearch. “It’s not tolerated in our sport and Spar Wrestling will never condone that behavior.”
The terrifying incident is now under investigation by the Oak Park Police Department.
