Waynesburg grad Welsh to wrestle for national title
Rocco Welsh transferred to Penn State because he believed the coaches and wrestlers in the Nittany Lions’ practice room would give him that extra push to earn a national championship.
After three decisive victories landed him in the semifinals, Welsh didn’t dominate Michigan’s Brock Mantanona, but was never in danger, as he scored the match’s lone takedown in a 4-3 victory on Friday night in the NCAA Division I National Wrestling Championships at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
Welsh, who graduated from Waynesburg Central High School in 2023, will battle Minnesota’s Max McEnelly for the championship in the 184-pound weight class Saturday evening. The finals are scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Welsh (26-0) defeated McEnelly (23-2) in double overtime, 2-1, last Sunday for the Big Ten Championship at Bryce Jordan Center in University Park.
Welsh entered the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 seed at 184, while McEnelly is seeded third. McEnelly edged Iowa’s Angelo Ferrari, 3-2, in double overtime to advance to the finals.
Welsh earned his third victory of the season over Mantanona (24-7) in the semifinals. He earned an 8-1 decision in a dual meet at Ann Arbor on Feb. 6 and an 8-5 win in sudden victory last Sunday in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament.
In Friday night’s bout, Mantanona escaped eights seconds into the second period for a 1-0 lead after a scoreless first period. Neither scored the rest of the second and Welsh took bottom to begin the third.
The two-time PIAA Class 3A champion escaped seven seconds into the third and scored his takedown for a 4-1 advantage with 1:16 remaining in the bout. Welsh rode Mantanona for the next 41 seconds, but after he was warned for stalling, he let the Wolverine escape with 30 seconds left. Welsh was banged for stalling with six seconds remaining, which cut the deficit to one, but the victory belonged to the two-time national finalist, who will look for his first NCAA gold in another Big Ten battle.
Welsh defeated Utah Valley’s Caleb Uhlenhopp in the round of 32, Lehigh’s Rylen Rogers in the round of 16 and Nebraska’s Silas Allred in the quarterfinals to assure himself All-American status on Thursday and Friday’s afternoon session.
Welsh earned a technical fall, 19-4, in 6:32 to defeat Uhlenhopp before a 13-4 major decision over Rogers. He had a 7-1 lead on Allred when the Cornhusker had to default out of the bout nine seconds into the third period.
Welsh finished second to five-time national champion Carter Starocci of the school he now wrestles for in 2024 while competing for Ohio State at 174. He elected to redshirt last season before moving to State College and the four-time defending national champions.
Welsh may also be celebrating a team title, as the Nittany Lions hold the top spot in the standings with 153 points. Oklahoma State is second with 111.5 points and Nebraska third (90.5).
Penn State has six competing in the finals and two in the consolations. The Cowboys have four finalists and four others who will finish in the top eight. The Cornhuskers have two finalists and five other All-Americans.
Welsh’s former teammate, Wyatt Henson, of Lock Haven, rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the first period to edge Iowa’s Nasir Bailey, 6-4, in the blood round at 141.
Bailey scored a takedown with 45 seconds remaining in the first period, but Henson escaped with 24 seconds left in the opening three minutes to cut the deficit to 3-1.
Bailey chose bottom to begin the second period, but Henson rode him out to enter the third trailing by two. The two-time state champion in Pennsylvania and the son of 2000 Olympic silver medalist Sammie Henson escaped 12 seconds into the third and scored a takedown with 1:12 remaining for a 5-3 lead.
Bailey was able to escape with four seconds remaining, but Henson earned a point for riding time and clinched All-American status.
Henson (29-8) dropped his next bout, 10-5, to Carter Nogle of Air Force, and will wrestle for seventh place Saturday morning against Penn’s CJ Composto.
The consolation semifinals are scheduled for 11 a.m., which will be followed by the third-eighth place matches.
Henson earned a 11-2 major decision in his opening match, but suffered a 14-4 setback in the round of 16 on Thursday night. He earned a 5-0 decision to advance to the third round of consolations. Henson qualified for the blood round with a 6-4 decision over Oklahoma’s Tyler Wells in the fourth round of consolations.
Mount Pleasant graduate Dayton Pitzer used three takedowns and an escape to defeat Ohio State’s Nick Feldman by major decision, 10-1, to qualify for the blood round at 285. The redshirt junior, who competes for Pitt, is wrestling in his third national tournament.
Pitzer (17-7) lost by fall to Oklahoma State’s Konner Doucet to finish one win shy of reaching the podium.
Pitzer’s teammate and Connellsville graduate Jared Keslar (17-16) earned his first career victory in the national tournament during his second appearance, but came up short in heartbreaking fashion to Ohio State’s Paddy Gallagher in his second consolation match at 165 on Friday afternoon.
After a scoreless opening period, Gallagher chose bottom and escaped 12 seconds in for a 1-0 lead that he took into the third period.
Keslar escaped with 45 seconds left, and, although the match was technically tied, Gallagher had accumulated riding time by two seconds. Keslar did all he could to take the lead, and Gallagher was warned for stalling, but held on for a 2-1 decision.
Keslar gave No. 2 Joey Blaze a battle in the round of 32 but came up short in a 5-0 loss. Blaze scored a takedown in the first period and escaped in the second for a 4-0 lead. He was awarded one point for riding time.
Keslar battled back Thursday evening with a 14-4 major decision over Gunner Filipowicz of Army West Point for his first career victory in the national tournament. Keslar scored two takedowns in the first period and two in the third, escaped in the second and had riding time for the triumph.
Frazier graduate and West Virginia redshirt freshman Rune Lawrence (19-14) won his national tournament debut with a 9-6 triumph in sudden victory over Ohio State’s Luke Geog in the round of 32.
Geog was the No. 12 seed, but Lawrence rallied from a 6-2 deficit for the win. Geog scored two takedowns for a four-point lead with 1:33 remaining in the second period, but Lawrence escaped and scored the match-tying takedown with 38 seconds left in the second period.
After a scoreless third, Lawrence won the bout with his second takedown with 1:12 remaining in sudden victory.
Lawrence lost to Wyoming’s Joey Novak, the first seed at 197, in the round of 16 to fall back into the consolation bracket. Lawrence dropped a 7-1 decision to Iowa’s Gabe Arnold and was eliminated Friday afternoon.
Waynesburg Central graduate Mac Church (24-14) dropped two hard-fought bouts at 165 on Thursday in Day 1.
Church had a 2-1 lead on Little Rock’s Matty Blanchi after the first 30-second rideout in double overtime, but Blanchi escaped with 17 seconds and scored a takedown with no time remaining for a 5-2 decision in the round-of-32.
Church fell to Penn’s Sean Seefeldt, 4-1, in the first round of consolations. After a scoreless first period, Seefeldt escaped and scored a takedown in the second for a 4-0 lead.
Church escaped in the third with 1:34 remaining and pushed the pace, as Seefeldt was warned for stalling, but the former Raider couldn’t get the match-tying takedown.
Another former Raider, Luca Augustine, of Pitt, went 1-2 at 174 to finish on Friday afternoon.
Augustine (14-9) had a 6-4 loss in his first match, but won by fall (2:16) in his next bout before being eliminated following a 4-3 setback.