Rocco Welsh recently weighed in on his clash with Max McEnelly at the Big Ten Wrestling Championships. He defended the controversial takedown call during the bout.
Welsh entered the tournament looking for his first title, and after significant showdowns, he advanced to the 184-pound final on March 8, where he locked horns with Minnesota’s McEnelly. The first period of their contest saw a few takedown attempts from Welsh, and the match ended in a tie after his opponent earned an escape of his own.
During the tiebreaker round, the Penn State wrestler escaped instantly, and questions were raised about whether McEnelly got a takedown. However, after review, the result was no takedown at the end of the first tiebreaker, and the red-shirt sophomore eventually secured a 2-1 (TB-1) victory despite being called for stalling.
Shortly after winning his first Big Ten title, the Ohio State transfer defended the controversial takedown by his opponent that was called during the tiebreaker round. Weighing in on the bout, Welsh said:
“I had a little bit of pain. I can’t lie, I landed hard, so I had to collect myself a little bit, but I mean, I don’t think it was a takedown. It was reaction time, you know, my hands, touched for a second, he picked my hands up, he returned me. We were both on our backs, so there’s no control, but, you know, I see his frustration too, though he had a good match. It wasn’t a takedown, though, but, you know, hopefully see him again in a couple of weeks.”
To progress to the finals, Welsh defeated Iowa’s Angelo Ferrari and Michigan’s Brock Mantanona in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively.
Rocco Welsh Received Words of Appreciation From His Head Coach Cael Sanderson
With this win in the 184-lbs final, Rocco Welsh did justice to his top seed, and following the victory, his efforts were appreciated by Penn State’s head coach, Cael Sanderson. The latter praised him for finding his way toward the victory after tough showdowns and highlighted the composure and poise he showed in the final round.
“A great match. Rocco, he had a heckuva tough bracket there. And the seeds obviously were really screwed up to start the tournament. It only hurt a couple teams so they didn’t do anything about it. But I don’t think we’ll be going that route again just because you wanna do what’s right for the kids. Rocco Welsh wrestled some great wrestlers, and he had to really get tough and find a way to win the match and just stay solid, and he did,” Sanderson said.
He added:
“But yeah, great final match. It’s about preparation, you know? Being able to show that composure and the poise and find a way, that’s special. So, we’re happy for Rocco. He did a great job.”
Rocco Welsh committed to the Penn State wrestling team on March 30, 2025, after being associated with Ohio State for two seasons.
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