High school wrestler sucker punches opponent after losing match

A high school athlete in Illinois was assaulted by his opponent after beating him in a wrestling match.

The youth wrestler was attempting to shake his opponent's hand after the victory, but ended up hitting the deck after he was clocked with a sucker punched to the face.

Footage of the incident has gone viral online with police now reportedly investigating the matter.

According to TMZ, the ugly incident occurred at the "Beat The Streets" tournament at Oak Park River Forest High School in Illinois.

It's understood kids ranging from the ages of eight to 18 were participating in the local wrestling competition.

But the event was marred when one of the competitors responded appallingly to losing a match.

After the clash ended 14-2, it was time for the two rivals to shake hands – although one of the kids let his emotions get the better of him before lashing out.

With his opponent's hand extended, the losing wrestling - seen wearing the blue - winded up a big right-hand haymaker, which landed flush on the other lad's chops.

The contact sent the kid-in-the-orange crashing to the floor in a heap.

The referee in charge quickly pulled the aggressor away from the scene while other spectators rushed to aid the victim.

In a clip posted to social media, you can hear gasps from shocked members of the crowd.

Thankfully the young kid didn't suffer anything too severe, although TMZ states he did sustain a nose injury.

"He is making the best of the situation and is already back to training," SPAR Academy founder Justin Pearch told the outlet.

"As you may know, wrestling matches can get heated but nothing leading up to the punch would give cause to such bad decision-making on the opponent's part."

He added: "It’s not tolerated in our sport and Spar Wrestling will never condone that behavior."

When Fight Haven - a page with two million followers - posted the video to Twitter, it went viral.

One person commented: "Sore loser."

While another added: "I hope he got banned."

As a third concluded: "When you hand out participation trophies at a young age you get people who cant handle losing. Or handle adversity."

Police have also probed the incident with the parents of both minors reportedly cooperating.