Welsh to Ohio State, Church to Virginia Tech
Before the first whistle blew and the first win was chalked up on the mat, Mac Church and Rocco Welsh took care of some very important business.
The two talented wrestlers from Waynesburg High School selected the colleges to continue their athletic and academic careers.
Church, a junior who was a PIAA champion at 126 pounds last season and a runner-up at 120 pounds as a freshmen, will take his considerable talents to Virginia Tech.
Welsh, a junior who was a PIAA runner-up the past two seasons, will attend Ohio State.
Colton Stoneking, a senior who placed fifth at 132 pounds in the PIAA Championships, will leave for George Mason University next August.
Zander Phaturos, a junior with a 23-7 record, chose Campbell.
“I really liked the coaches on the team, the kids on the team and it was close to my home,” said Church, who brings a 78-8 career record into this weekend’s Ironman Tournament. “The area is very nice. I just liked everything about it.”
Church basically had his choice of schools but the ones that made the final cut were North Carolina State, Lehigh, Cornell, Stanford and Pitt.
College coaches see him at 141 pounds and he will be spending his junior season at 132.
There was some speculation that Church and Welsh would attend the same college, but Church said that was all it was, speculation.
“That would have been cool had we liked the same place but we didn’t so. … We’ll always be friends.”
Church said it took a lot of pressure off him to make the choice before the season.
“It will be nice to get back to normal wrestling,” Church said.
Welsh was competing at a preseason tournament in Panama and was not available for comment.
He was available to win a gold medal in the 74kg (163 pounds) weight class at the Junior Pan Am Games in Cali, Columbia.
Welsh opened the tournament with a 7-2 decision over Cuba’s Geannis Tamayo and followed it with a 13-0 technical fall over Kevin Oliavarria Montilla of Puerto Rico in the semifinals. Welsh dominated Juan Martinez of the Dominican Republic for the title.
On the Cole Homet front, the senior wrestler is working towards a possible midseason return after severely damaging his arm in a car crash.
Homet, a state runner-up last year, is slowly regaining feeling in his arm. Head coach Kyle Szewczyk said Homet could take a year off after his senior season to enhance the healing process and serve as a volunteer coach with the Raiders before heading off to college.
“It’s coming along,” Szewczyk said. “Right now, it’s about mid-forearm of feeling. It’s a slow process. It’s noticeably better now than what it looked like two months ago. What it’s going to look like say mid-February? I don’t know.
“But he’s one of the most competitive people I’ve ever coached and that’s saying something. He’s definitely not losing hope this year. He’s constantly lifting weights, pushing himself. He’s got a great work ethic. He loves practice.”
Other local wrestlers making a college choice included Jacob Houpt of Canon-McMillan, a senior who finished fifth in the districts and had an 18-8 record. He picked Kent State.