Photo shows high school wrestlers posing with hanging black dummy

PHILLIPSBURG, N.J., Feb. 18 (UPI) -- A photo of the high school wrestling team in a small New Jersey city shows the wrestlers posing with a black dummy hanging by its neck.

George Chando, superintendent of schools in Phillipsburg, told the Warren Reporter officials are investigating the photo. The seven boys in the photo are wearing Phillipsburg High School colors while the dummy has on a Paulsboro High School T-shirt.

"This is a student matter that is currently under investigation and upon conclusion of the investigation, the district will take those actions necessary and allowable with law and district policies," Chando told the Reporter in an email Monday.

The Phillipsburg Stateliners defeated Paulsboro earlier this month. On Sunday, Phillipsburg went on to win the state team wrestling championship in the Group 4 division.

Phillipsburg, on the Delaware River opposite Easton, Pa., about 60 miles north of Philadelphia, is a declining industrial city. The 2010 Census reported about 83 percent of the population is white, down from more than 90 percent in the 2000 Census.

Paulsboro, also on the Delaware, is opposite Philadelphia. More than one-third of the residents are black.