It is official: former national runner-up Rocco Welsh is joining Penn State wrestling.
The move had been speculated upon for roughly 72 hours, starting pretty much as soon as Welsh announced his intention to join the transfer portal Thursday, March 27.
Three days later, Welsh made it official in an interview with Justin Basch of the Baschamania Podcast.
For multiple reasons, this is a big deal for Penn State. Not that the program needed to get stronger— it just won a 12th national title in 14 years and broke the team points record while doing so— but having a guy like Welsh certainly doesn’t hurt.
So why would Welsh leaving Ohio State for Penn State, one of its rivals, make sense? Well, let’s start with the obvious. Penn State has the best wrestling program in the world and arguably the most dominant operation anywhere in college sports. The team just wrapped up its 12th team title in 14 years, breaking the points record with 177 and becoming the first team since 2001 Minnesota— and just the second ever— to have all 10 starters be All-Americans.
For Welsh specifically, Penn State makes sense because of the location.
Before Welsh was a star at Ohio State, he wrestled at Waynesburg Central High School, which is about an hour south of Pittsburgh.
So where would Welsh fit in Penn State’s lineup?
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.It seems that 184 is the best bet.
Although Welsh has had his most success in college wrestling at 174, he moved up a class between his freshman and sophomore seasons.
This past season, Welsh wrestled unattached and went 15-0.
With Levi Haines, who took third for Penn State at 174, set to come back, and five-time champ Carter Starocciout of eligibility, 184 seems to be the most logical spot for Welsh.
Welsh was the victim in Starocci’s historic fourth national title win in March 2024.
Now, he could be winning titles for Penn State.
