Waynesburg’s Welsh, Church earn All-America status
By Joe Tuscano/Staff writer/jtuscano@observer-reporter.com
Welsh
Church
Waynesburg’s dynamic duo of Mac Church and Rocco Welsh burst onto the scene as freshmen and never looked back, but according to Raiders wrestling coach Kyle Szewczyk, he knew early on that the pair was special.
“I had a feeling they could be very good when they were probably in about first or second grade,” Szewczyk said. “They developed that mental and physical toughness and knew what to expect by the time they got to high school.”
Those attributes served Church and Welsh well, as they were named to the 2023 Wrestling USA Senior All-America Teams.
Welsh, who wrapped up his senior year with a second straight state title, was named as the top 170-pounder in the country in the “Dream Team” category. Welsh was 43-0 as a senior and had a career record of 159-14. He committed to Ohio State on Oct. 13, 2021, and is currently taking classes to get an early start on his collegiate career.
“It is pretty cool to be selected as the top 170-pounder in the country,” Welsh said. “I moved in about two weeks ago and I am still adjusting, but it is going pretty good. There are a lot of good practice partners here that are very tough.”
Church’s two state championships came as a sophomore and junior. He was named one of five Pennsylvania All-Americans. Church, who committed to wrestle at Virginia Tech on Oct. 15, 2021, had a career mark on 151-13. He wrestled at 145 as a senior.
“It is definitely a cool thing to be selected as an All-American,” Church said. “I always focused on doing well in school. My dad is a doctor, so he had to be a good student, and he pushed me to not only do well in wrestling, but in the classroom. I had strong support from my mom, too.”
Church had a 4.0 GPA in high school. Welsh finished with a GPA of 3.558.
“We have to give credit to their parents,” Szewczyk said. “It starts at home, and they know that they need to do well in school and the community. They go to school, have practice and do their homework, so by the time that’s all done, they are ready for bed. It helps to keep them out of trouble, and we have great support from the community and administration here at Waynesburg.”
Welsh battled his way to a second-place finish in the state as a freshman. He dropped a 7-6 decision to Norwin’s Kurtis Phipps at 126. Welsh returned to the finals a year later amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but Seneca Valley’s Alejandro Herrera-Rondon won the championship at 152 after a 3-1 decision.
Following those setbacks in the state finals, Welsh went on a two-year tear. He was 89-1 at 172 with 34 falls and 23 technical falls. Welsh defeated fellow All-American Josh Barr of Davison, Mich., in overtime (3-1) of the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic. They had wrestled twice before the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic with each winning once.
Barr is a Penn State University recruit, and Welsh looks forward to the opportunity to face Barr again in Big 10 action.
“He beat me the first time we wrestled and is the only kid I lost to in about two years,” Welsh said. “I was glad to win the next two matches. It will definitely be a bigger match if we wrestle each other in college because Ohio State is looking to beat Penn State since they are the defending champions.”
Church finished third in the state as a freshman at 106. After winning back-to-back state titles, he was denied a third in a 7-1 setback to Quakertown’s Collin Gaj in the 145-pound final.
“It was tough to lose that last match at states, and then come up short at the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic, but I will use that to motivate me in college,” Church said. “I am really excited to get started. I also like that college wrestling has adopted the three-point takedown. I am pretty confident on my feet, so I think that will help me and force my opponents to not be so defensive when we are on our feet.”