Sandwich teen punched after winning a wrestling match speaks out: ‘I was in a state of shock’

The Sandwich teen who police say was punched in the face by his opponent after their wrestling match April 8 at Oak Park-River Forest High School has returned to the wrestling mat.

Cooper Corder, 14, suffered a bloody nose and now must wear a mask when he practices and competes to protect his face. The incident happened during the Beat the Streets Chicago Freestyle & Greco Tournament hosted by USA Wrestling, and a video recording of the punch went viral last week. Cooper is a wrestler with Aurora-based SPAR Wrestling Academy.

“They thought at first it was broken, and the radiologist was not so sure, so we’re following up with an ear, nose and throat doctor,” Cooper’s mom, Jillian Hill, who is a nurse, said Saturday. “He has to wear a pretty extensive face mask.”

Cooper’s family sought criminal charges following the incident.

“I knew we had to file at least a report because we really weren’t sure how badly he was hurt,” Hill said. ”We filed the report and then a couple of days later, we called them back and decided that we did want charges filed with the police department.”

The Oak Park Police Department on Thursday cited the teenager who allegedly punched Cooper with a local ordinance violation for assault. An adjudication hearing is scheduled for next month.

“The offender stated that he struck his opponent because he was angry that he had lost the match,” according to a release from the Oak Park Police Department. “The offender and family also relayed that they would cooperate with any future investigation.”

Hill said she thought the alleged offender needs to understand that “this was assault and battery and that as he’s getting older, he can’t act like this, otherwise the consequences are going to be much worse.”

Cooper competed in a wrestling match Saturday in Wisconsin. He returned to practice two weeks ago.

He is trying to get used to wearing the mask.

“The mask makes it hard to see,” he said. “I think I’m supposed to wear the mask for three weeks, but my nose has been feeling better, so I think I might try a practice without it. I think I’ll still wear it for tournaments. I want to slowly work my way into not wearing it.”

In an widely circulated video, Cooper is seen shaking his opponent’s hand following their match, which he won by a score of 14-2. After the handshake, his opponent is seen punching him in his face.

Cooper said the punch took him by surprise.

“As soon as it happened, I was kind of in a state of shock,” he said. “I didn’t know exactly what was going on. … I cleaned myself up and tried getting out of there as fast as I could.”

Hill is happy that her son wasn’t more severely hurt.

“That punch could have taken him out. It could have cost him his dreams and goals,” Hill said. “That’s something hard to process. And we’re so grateful that didn’t happen.”

This is the first time something like this has ever happened to him during a wrestling match, said Cooper, who has been wrestling for about 10 years.

“I got into it because of my older bother,” Cooper said. “He was on the Sandwich team. I wasn’t able to wrestle yet and I was kind of on the sidelines watching. I think that kind of sparked my love for it.”

Cooper and his mother said they didn’t think the story would draw as much attention as it did.

“We did not post the video,” Hill said. “The video was posted by someone we do not know. And it went viral on TikTok.”

But she understands the interest in the story, especially by other parents whose youngsters also are involved in sports.

Cooper said he plans to continue wrestling despite what happened.

“I still have the same goals and I still have the same mindset,” he said. “I still want to win all the tournaments I’m going to. I don’t think this is going to stop me in any way.”

Cooper, a two-time state champion, said he is going into high school next school year and wants to win titles at the high school level and beyond.

“I would love to train for the Olympics,” he said.