New Jersey HS Wrestler Carted Off in Ambulance After Brutal KO; Teammate Punched in Violent Match

Monday night’s wrestling match between Ocean Township and Raritan in Hazlet, N.J. took a scary turn when Ocean Township’s Kersaint Ganthier was knocked unconscious

Ocean Township's Dominic Volek pinned Northern Burlington s Galiano Zeppadoro in their 132 lbs. bout. NJSIAA Region 6 pre-quarterfinal wrestling in Jackson, NJ on February 23, 2024. / Peter Ackerman / USA TODAY NETWORK

During his 120-pound bout against Raritan’s Justin Card, Kersaint Ganthier took a hard blow to the face. According to Ocean Township coach Cip Apicelli, Ganthier went limp immediately after the strike, according to a report by NJ Advance Media.

An Apparent Punch Renders Gathier Unconscious

Video of the incident (obtained by NJ Advance Media but not publicly released) shows Card scoring a reversal and getting on top. As he worked for a pin, he threw what looked like a roundhouse cross-face with his left arm. At that moment, Ganthier was ahead, 7-3.

The blow landed somewhere on Ganthier’s face, though it’s unclear whether it was Card’s arm or arm or hand that made contact. Six seconds passed before the referee finally stopped the match.

“As soon as he gets hit, he goes limp,” Apicelli said to NJ Advance Media. “We started yelling ‘It’s a punch, it’s a punch.’ I think we’re the only people who saw it.”

Ganthier was taken by ambulance to Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel. On Tuesday morning, Coach Apicelli said the wrestler would be sidelined “for quite some time” but couldn’t share more details about the injury.

Conflicting Views on What Happened

Raritan head coach Ethan Wolf saw things differently.

“From my perspective, my wrestler scored a reversal, was on top working for a pinning combination and the Ocean kid bounced his head off the mat,” Wolf said. “I thought the cross-face was within the window of being legal. The official didn’t call anything and didn’t take any direct action.”

Referee Owen McClave didn’t see a foul. No penalties were called, and Card was awarded the win by medical forfeit.

A Second Incident Turns Ugly

The tension didn’t end there.

Three matches later, at 138 pounds, things boiled over again. Ocean Township’s Steven Perez pinned Raritan’s Jose Rodriguez to win the bout. After the pin, Perez pushed off Rodriguez as he got up. Rodriguez responded by throwing a punch that caught Perez in the face while his back was turned.

The referee called flagrant misconduct and unsportsmanlike conduct on Rodriguez. Coach Wolf called the punch “out of character” for his wrestler.

“I’m not condoning it, but it’s a passionate sport,” Wolf said. “No coach with any character is going to condone anything like that.”

Fortunately, Perez was not hurt in the incident.

Ocean Township Pulls the Plug, Forfeits Last Four Matches

Despite the chaos, Ocean Township was dominating on the scoreboard. They won the matches at 144, 150 and 157 pounds to build a 38-16 lead.

With the dual meet already decided and emotions running high, Coach Apicelli chose to forfeit the final four bouts at 165, 175, 190, and 215 pounds (with a double forfeit at 190).

“Nothing good was going to happen if we wrestled the last four matches,” Apicelli explained.

Up until the injury to Ganthier, the night had been a normal high school wrestling match. After that, it was anything but.