The New Jersey referee who forced a high school wrestler to cut his dreadlocks before a match has been suspended as a state agency investigates the incident

CRIMSON TAZVINZWA, AIWA! NO!|Larry White, executive director of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, said in a statement that “those groups that assign high school wrestling referees in New Jersey will not assign the referee in question until this matter has been thoroughly reviewed.” The incident is now under investigation by the New Jersey Civil Rights division.

The “referee in question” is Alan Maloney, who forced 16-year-old Andrew Johnson of Buena Regional High School to either cut his dreadlocks or forfeit his match at a Dec. 19 meet. Johnson opted for a last-minute haircut, and video of a school official cutting Johnson’s hair was tweeted by a local reporter.