It can feel like a lot being around teenagers with all of their inside jokes and mindless slang. The thing about being a teacher, though, is you have to learn how to develop a bit of a thick skin so with some patience and perseverance you can pull through those tougher moments. Some patience could have gone a long way for a Connecticut teacher and wrestling coach who is facing charges after hitting a student so hard he caused head trauma and a concussion, all because the teen told a silly joke.
A teacher and wrestling coach has been placed on leave and charged after allegedly hitting a student.
According to WKRC, Steve Nelson, a teacher and head wrestling coach at Norwich Free Academy in Norwich, Connecticut, is facing charges after allegedly hitting a student in the face which caused trauma and a concussion.
The teacher has been on paid administrative leave since December 2025, WFSB reported. According to the arrest warrant released in April 2026, Nelson thought the student was not working hard enough and was “fooling around” while he was on a stationary bike at practice on December 30, the news outlet reported.
When the coach instructed the student to increase his speed on the bike, it was then when things escalated because of something you’d probably never expect.
The teacher allegedly got mad over the student using the popular Gen Alpha phrase ‘six-seven.’
When the wrestling coach tried to instruct the student to increase his speed from 30 revolutions per minute to between 60 and 70, the student told his instructor, “Coach, six-seven.” The arrest warrant states that was when the coach struck the athlete in the face, per WFSB.
Now, what does six-seven even mean? According to WKRC, the phrase that’s been toted around on social media as a “nonsensical meme,” doesn’t really mean anything; it’s just a reference to a song by Skrilla.
The coach claimed that he wasn’t actually trying to hit the student, but rather trying to get him to focus “with a tap or pat,” WKRC reported. The other witnesses corroborated that assessment, per WFSB.
The Norwich Free Academy community is stunned at the coach’s behavior.
A woman named Lisa Zeppieri, who has a son on the academy’s wrestling team, told WFSB that the allegations about the coach are difficult to believe. “He is mild-mannered, he does not have a hot temper. He is so supportive of the kids,” the mother shared.
Even though this mom calls this incident a “misunderstanding” that needs to be “resolved,” other students who described the coach’s behavior as “disturbing,” WFSB reported.
The warrant stated that the student who was struck complained of a headache and neck pain throughout the day after the incident, per WFSB. The student described taking a nap, waking up, and getting sick to his stomach. It was then when his father took him to the hospital to be assessed.
Nelson is charged with third-degree assault, a Class A misdemeanor, and risk of injury to a child, a Class C felony, the New Haven Register reported.
We hope the student has fully recovered and the coach finds a much better way to express himself to his athletes.
