A high school wrestler has been cited by police for sucker-punching his opponent after losing their match.
Eighth-grade wrestler Hafid Alicea landed a whopping punch on his opponent Cooper Corder after he lost their wrestling match, with a final score of 14-2, clearly not taking the defeat well.
Following the incident, Alicea was cited for assault by police, The New York Post reported.
In the video, Alicea can be seen strolling up to his winning opponent after the match ends, with Corder extending his hand for a handshake in a display of sportsmanship. However, instead of shaking Corder's hand, Alicea rejects the shake and punches him square in the face.
Alicea received the citation on Thursday (April 20) after admitting to officers he punched Corder because "he was angry that he had lost the match," the Oak Park Police Department told the outlet. According to the report, all parties have cooperated with the investigation.
The match between Corder and Alicea - who are both 14 - was a third-place match in the 125-128-pound weight class and was held in Oak Park, Illinois at the 2023 Beat the Streets Developmental FS Tournament on April 8. Both boys are students at different schools - Corder attends SPAR Academy, while Alicea attends Maine West High School.
Alicea is now facing fines and penalties depending on the outcome of an adjudication hearing, which is set to take place in May.
Police officers told TMZ that when they arrived on the scene following the violent incident, Corder had a bloody nose but did not want to receive further medical care.
It hasn't been reported if Alicea will face further discipline than being cited - such as a lifetime ban from the sport - but MMA legend Chael Sonnen said to TMZ that he was hopeful Alicea would not receive too much time away from wrestling. "This was a terrible moment, but it could also be a teachable moment," Sonnen said.
Corder - a two-time state wrestling champion - has already returned to training this week, telling WGN News: "I've never seen this. There's multiple big national tournaments that you see people in the finals - they're not even upset with their loss. Any tournament... I've never seen this before so for it to happen to me I was very shocked."
His mother told the outlet: "I'm just so proud of him because he works incredibly hard for something that he loves, but he's just a great person. He has the highest level of integrity and he makes me very proud as a mom."
"[Corder] is making the best of the situation and is already back to training," SPAR Academy founder Justin Pearch previosuly told TMZ. "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."
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