At the New Jersey high school wrestling community, Anthony Knox, a three-time state champion from St. John Vianney High School, has been disqualified from the 2025 NJSIAA Wrestling tournament following an incident at Collingswood High School.
The nationally top-ranked wrestler at 126 pounds saw his quest for a fourth straight state title come to an abrupt end after an altercation in the stands following his district tournament match on Saturday.
“I saw a bunch of grown men yelling racial slurs at kids that I’ve been training since they’re six years old, cursing at my son, cursing at my wife,”
said Anthony Knox Sr., who was subsequently arrested at the venue.
The elder Knox, who has a background in Mixed Martial Arts and relocated his family from Staten Island to New Jersey several years ago, maintains he acted in defense of his family.
“As a man, I walked over, walked up into the stands, and asked the guy to stop. And at that point, I was assaulted, never threw a punch, never hurt anybody.”
NJSIAA Executive Director Colleen Maguire announced the disqualification, stating,
“My role is to uphold the integrity of high school athletics by ensuring that all participants adhere to the same rules and are held to the same standards of sportsmanship and safety.”
The younger Knox, who remains committed to Cornell University, responded to the ruling with resolve.
“The protection of my family is the number one thing for me. If I had a choice between protecting my family and never wrestling a match again, then I would choose to protect my family every single time.”
The Knox family’s legal team is currently filing an injunction to allow Anthony to compete until a proper hearing can be held. The incident has particularly raised eyebrows as the alleged instigators were reportedly from West Stafford, a team that stands to benefit from Knox’s disqualification.
The Region 7 tournament bracket for the 126lb weight class will be reseeded according to NJSIAA officials, while St. John Vianney, ranked No. 3 in the Asbury Park Press Shore Conference rankings, had dominated the tournament prior to the incident, winning the first nine championship bouts at Collingswood.
