Pennsylvania coach charged after video shows him grab youth wrestler by neck

A Pennsylvania wrestling coach was arrested Saturday after picking up a 12-year-old wrestler by the neck and tossing him to the mat at a tournament in Pittsburgh.

The coach shown on the video is Eric Angle, brother of 1996 Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle who just last week announced his retirement from a 20-year pro wrestling career.

There are some disgusting individuals around the sport of wrestling.

It's sickening to see a coach pick a kid up by his throat and abuse him like this. pic.twitter.com/lEDXhE0kR8

— Eric Olanowski (@EricOlanowski) March 19, 2019

The alleged incident took place Saturday at the 2019 Pennsylvania Junior Wrestling Championships at Petersen Events Center, a 12,000-seat arena on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh. Campus police charged him with simple assault and escorted him off university property.

A university spokesperson confirmed Eric Angle's arrest but did not offer any details as to what may have happened at the tournament. Multiple news reports indicate the wrestler was coming off the mat towards his corner when Angle appears to grab him by the neck, pick him up off the ground and shove him down to the mat.

Angle has since offered an apology on his Facebook page.

He told WTAE-TV, the ABC affiliate in Pittsburgh which broadcast the video of the incident, �"I should have just walked away and let him get thrown out. Instead, I'm the one who embarrassed myself even more.”

Pittsburgh Junior Wrestling is cooperating with a police investigation.

Eric Angle, 51, is a youth wrestling coach in the Pittsburgh area. He wrestled at Mt. Lebanon High School just like his younger brother Kurt, but continued his academic and athletic career at a different college in Pennsylvania -- Waynesburg University -- while Kurt was a student-athlete at Clarion University where he was a two-time NCAA Division I heavyweight champion in 1990 and 1992. Eric retired from pro wrestling in 2002.