Wrestler Wins Fourth NJ State Title, But Some See Black Eye for High School Sportsmanship

Anthony Knox Jr. became the fifth wrestler in New Jersey history to win a fourth state championship Saturday, but as unsurprising as his 148th career victory was, it still left some observers with an uneasy feeling.

Steve Politi of NJ Advance Media described the referee lifting Knox Jr.'s right fist in the air, the same fist that the St. John Vianney High School senior allegedly used to punch a minor repeatedly two weeks earlier during a brawl in the bleachers at an NJ District 25 tournament event.

"Go ahead. Let that one sink in," Politi wrote. "Even in the win-at-all-costs culture that has swallowed high school sports in a way that has made them unrecognizable from a generation ago, the moment was hard to fathom.

"Is this how far an enterprise that was once built around teaching young people life values has fallen? Is this really what we want?

"The athletes watching at Boardwalk Hall learned some important lessons as Knox became just the fifth four-time state champion in New Jersey history. They discovered that sportsmanship is a quaint idea from another time. They saw that the right lawyer and the wrong judge can get a person out of anything."

Knox Jr. was cleared to compete at the NJSIAA Wrestling Championships late Wednesday, one day after he was charged with simple assault for his role in the bleacher brawl that involved his father. Mercer County Superior Court Judge Patrick J. Bartels issued his ruling just hours before wrestlers were due in Atlantic City for Thursday morning weigh-ins.

Related: NJ Wrestler to Chase Fourth State Championship After Disqualification Lifted — for Now

The Feb. 22 incident had prompted New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association executive director Colleen Maguire, to suspend Knox Jr. for the remainder of the season as of Feb. 25. Maguire ruled Knox had violated the NJSIAA's “sportsmanship policy and its disqualification rule for leaving the bench area during an altercation,” maintaining there was “uncontradictory video evidence” showing Knox Jr. entering the stands and throwing a punch during the fight. But Knox Jr. averted the DQ when it was argued, among other things, there was no bench area to leave at the District 25 tournament.

Related: Star Wrestler Charged With Simple Assault Ahead of State Championships

As Knox Jr. "stood atop the 126-pound medal stand at the NJSIAA Wrestling Championship and had his name announced, there was some nice applause echoing through Boardwalk Hall," wrote Stephen Edelson of the Asbury Park Press. "But it wasn’t nearly the standing, raucous ovation the final moment of one of the greatest careers ever in New Jersey wrestling normally would have generated after winning a fourth straight state championship.

"It’s a shame it had to come to this, but there was something about the two weeks of drama surrounding Knox that struck a chord with people."

Edelson, who in a March 6 headline declared the "Sportsmanship pledge at NJ high school sports no longer worth the paper its printed on," went on to write Saturday, "Instead of it being about his slick takedown moves, it came down to his lawyer, Patrick J. Jennings, questioning the NJSIAA’s practices, particularly the claim it did not give Knox due process during its investigation, and Superior Court Judge Patrick J. Bartels agreed, issue a temporary restraining order to negate the suspension, rendering the case moot.

"Even if the NJSIAA does strip him of his title a month from now, nobody cares at that point. And he’s going to get a slap on the wrist, nothing more, when he has a court date in Collingswood on April 2.

"He beat the rap. He got away with it."