A teenage wrestler who sucker-punched his opponent after getting pinned and losing his 8th-grade wrestling match has now been charged with assault in Illinois.
That eighth-grader is Hafid Alicea. When he lost his match, he punched his victorious opponent, Cooper Corder, in the face. The New York Post, reporting on what happened, said, “Hafid Alicea, who clocked Cooper Corder after losing their eighth-grade wrestling match, has been cited for assault. Alicea received the citation on Thursday 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.”
In Illinois, assault is a class C misdemeanor. That means that punishment for it can be up to 30 days in jail and a $1,500 fine.
Watch the incident here:
“Hafid Alicea of Maine West (IL) throws a sucker punch at the line. Youth wrestler sucker punches rival in the FACE during post-game handshake after defeat. The incident between both eighth graders took place at a tournament in Illinois”
Hafid Alicea of Maine West (IL) throws a sucker punch at the line
Youth wrestler sucker punches rival in the FACE during post-game handshake after defeat
The incident between both eighth graders took place at a tournament in Illinois pic.twitter.com/DwKgTevpgx— Truthseeker (@Xx17965797N) April 19, 2023
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Commenting on the video, people called for the wrestler who through the sucker punch, Hafid, to be banned from youth sports for life, saying things like, “Honestly the kid in blue should be banned from all sports for the rest of his life kind of action in my school we had a few kids pull something like this on the baseball field and they were never allowed to participate in youth sports of any kind in that state ever again.”
As Breitbart News, reporting on the shocking sucker-punch attack at the time it occurred, said:
The attack occurred on April 8 during the 2023 Beat the Streets Developmental FS tournament held in Oak Park, Illinois when wrestler Cooper Corder of SPAR Academy defeated Maine West High School’s Hafid Alicea, according to TMZ.
Video of the altercation at the community event open to kids years 8 to 18 shows Corder (in orange) pinning Alicea (in blue) ending the match with Corder wining 14-2.
The pair then approach for the traditional handshake, but instead of the sportsman-like act, Alicea takes a sudden and unprovoked swing at Corder, sending the latter to the mat in a heap.
SPAR Academy founder Justin Pearch, speaking on how Cooper handled the sucker punch, said “He 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.”
TMZ added that “TMZ Sports has learned he suffered a nose injury and has since been forced to wear a face mask at events while it heals … but, fortunately, we’re told he’s somehow doing OK.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video