O-R Athlete of the Week: Braedon Welsh, Fort Cherry
Name: Braedon Welsh
School: Fort Cherry
Grade: Senior
Sport: Wrestling
Welsh’s Week: Welsh didn’t waste much time getting results over the weekend at the Southmoreland Holiday Classic.
He didn’t get to the third period of a match, winning all five by either by fall or a technical fall, including a first period pin of Central Catholic’s Nezumiiro Green in the 189-pound final.
Welsh’s 5-0 week earned him his second title at Southmoreland in two tries. He also won two years ago as a sophomore.
This time, he left with even more hardware, winning the Outstanding Wrestler Award.
“My whole mindset going into this tournament was more focused on wrestling the best I can, rather than winning or losing,” Welsh said. “I try to stay away from getting too hard on myself if I lose and just wrestle the best I can.”
Welsh admitted he was a little nervous going into the final against Green. He hadn’t faced him before, so there was a bit of an unknown.
“I looked on PA-Wrestling and saw he had wrestled through the years and saw he had some close matches against guys I’ve wrestled in the past, but as soon I shook his hand and got into my first shot, I was a lot more confident,” Welsh said. “I was able to cut him and get the pin eventually.”
Confidence boost: The title at Southmoreland was Welsh’s second of the season.
He won the 190-pound title at the NursePro Plus Tournament at University High School in West Virginia, December 21, with an 8-1 decision over University’s Ryder Hastings in the final.
Welsh, a two-time state place winner is 10-0 this season and will look to carry the momentum into this weekend as he tries to defend his title at the TRICADA tournament at West Greene.
“It definitely has built up my confidence,” Welsh said. “I’m ranked third or fourth in the state right now at 189. I’m either going to wrestle at 189 or 215 (in the postseason), but I’m confident going into states this year. Maybe I can go there and pull off a win or get a top three and do better than the last two years I’ve been there.”
Star student: Welsh is not only excelling on the mat, but in the classroom as well. He has a 4.2 GPA and is a Chief Science Officer at Fort Cherry.
He’s continuing his wrestling career at Brown and plans to study Business Economics or Financing.
“I also visited Princeton and a couple non-Ivy League schools like West Virginia, and the big thing that separated Brown was the coaches and I have a couple of friends that are going there,” Welsh said. “Being an Ivy League school it’s going to set me up well after wrestling, because wrestling isn’t going to last forever.”
New Year’s resolution: Many people around the world are starting their New Year’s resolutions this week and hoping to stick to them.
Welsh’s New Year’s resolution is simple, and though it may not totally be in control, he hopes it comes to fruition for the rest of the wrestling season.
“Stay healthy and not get injured all the time,” Welsh said.