Rocco Welsh’s first season with Penn State wrestling was almost perfect.
The 184-pounder walked into his national title bout against Minnesota’s Max McEnelly 25-0, with a win over McEnelly for the Big Ten Championship just two weeks prior.
Welsh had already been to the national championship match before, making it to the final as a true freshman before falling to Penn State legend Carter Starocci.
Many expected Welsh to finish the job. But wrestling is tough, and so is McEnelly. The Golden Gopher beat Welsh 4-3 for the title, and Welsh enters the 2026-27 season still looking for his first national championship.
Penn State had its first dual meet of the season Thursday against Bloomsburg, and of course, Welsh was a part of it. He took on Gavin Hannah and won via tech fall.
Granted, Welsh destroyed a man he was supposed to destroy, but all he could focus on was the opponent in front of him.
After the bout, Welsh reflected on how the last nearly eight months have been.
“It sucked for a little while,” Welsh said, “and then just try to have a good perspective on it.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Welsh told reporters Tuesday that he looked forward to wrestling people who weren’t his teammates, which he had been doing all offseason.
Thursday, he got to do that, and he did his job.
“There’s no place like Rec Hall here at Penn State,” he said, “so it was awesome just getting out there in front of the fans after a long offseason. So, yeah, like I said, it’s always great wrestling other competition.
The competition will get tougher from here, with 184 featuring studs such as the returning McEnelly, Iowa’s Angelo Ferrari, Missouri’s Aeoden Sinclair and Michigan’s Brock Mantanona.
Welsh will be right in the mix, just like he was last season.
The biggest question will be: Can he change the ending?
“You know, (last year’s loss is) going to push me to accomplish big things,” he said, “and I think God has a great plan for my life. So I’m just following His plan and whatever He has for me.“
