A top high school wrestler in New Jersey who had been disqualified from the state championship will now be allowed to pursue his fourth state title, based on a judge's ruling Friday.
As reported by NJ.com, three-time state champion Anthony Knox Jr. was cleared to wrestle less than an hour before a regional tournament weigh-in Friday, once Mercer County Superior Court Judge Patrick J. Bartels overturned a New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association disqualification for Knox’s part in a brawl at Collingswood High School less than a week earlier.
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Knox, who has committed to wrestle at Cornell University, easily won the regional championship at 126 pounds.
The senior hopes to continue his bid to become only the fifth, four-time state champion in New Jersey wrestling history when the state championship runs Thursday through Saturday. The NJSIAA announced late Friday afternoon it would appeal the decision, filing a proposed order for stay pending appeal in Mercer County, NJ.com reported.
As reported by CBS News, the controversy started at the NJ District 25 tournament at Collingswood High School last Saturday. Knox Jr.'s father claims a spectator was cursing and yelling racial slurs at competitors, and when he asked the man to stop, he was assaulted.
Videos show a large fight breaking out among spectators. Knox Jr. said he ran into the stands because he feared for his family's wellbeing.
Both father and son were led away in handcuffs after the brawl, prompting the NJSIAA to disqualify Knox Jr. from the state championship.
The "stunning" ruling by Bartels Friday has "far-reaching ramifications for high school sports in the state," according to Stephen Edelson of the Asbury Park Press.
"It’s a radical departure from the norm, with the courts generally staying out of the business of high school athletics — and it raises the possibility that athletes, parents, coaches and school districts will be lawyering up on a weekly basis," Edelson wrote.
