O-R Athlete of the Week: Rocco, Welsh, Waynesburg
Name: Rocco Welsh
School: Waynesburg
Class: Senior
Sport: Wrestling
Welsh’s week: The Raiders’ 172-pounder was the only local wrestler to win his weight class at the Powerade Tournament held at Canon-McMillan High School.
Welsh began the tournament as the top seed in the weight class and drew a first-round bye. He disposed of Duncan Christensen of Malvern Prep by 15-6 major decision in his first bout then followed that with a 25-10 technical fall over Jacob Weaver of Central Mountain.
In the quarterfinals, Welsh stopped LLandon Jobber-Spence of Fauquier High School in Virginia by a score of 18-5 major decision. That got him to the semifinals, where he took care of Dom Federici of Wyoming Seminary, 7-3.
He captured the gold medal with a 5-3 victory over Gary Wrigth of Pakersburg South in West Virginia.
“This is a big tournament,” said Welsh. “It’s one of the biggest for our team. And it was big for me because I got (my first gold medal) in my final year.”
Welsh has had a spectacular career at Waynesburg. He was a PIAA champion last year and is ranked No. 1 at 172 pounds by just about every ranking service.
Undefeated season: An Ohio State recruit, Welsh takes a 16-0 record into this weekend’s Tri-CADA Wrestling Tournament at Canon-McMillan High School. Action gets underway Friday at 5 p.m. Semifinals are 11 a.m. Saturday and finals are 2:30 p.m.
Welsh’s his career record is 132-17. Besides Powerade, Welsh won the preseason Super 32 and Walsh Jesuit Ironman Tournament last month. Both were for the first time.
Welsh believes he’s made improvement to his wrestling, especially to his riding ability. He realizes how important that is in college.
“I’ve been working on top,” said Welsh. “I’ve definitely got better on top.”
Waynesburg head coach Kyle Szewczyk said Welsh is one of the hardest workers in the wrestling room.
“He’s a leader and not afraid to put the work in,” said Szewczyk. “I’ve coached some No. 1 wrestlers in the country before: Coleman Scott and AC Headlee. And the one thing they had in common was their willingness to learn.”
Family affair: Welsh’s wrestling roots run deep. His older brother Tony wrestled for Beth-Center and his uncle Gary is the head coach at Beth-Center.
His first cousin, Braeden, competes for Fort Cherry.
Compiled by Joe Tuscano
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