Northwestern Wildcats The Northwestern Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Northwestern University, located in Evanston, Illinois. Northwestern is a founding member of the Big Ten Conference and one of two private universities in the conference, the other ...

Jason Michael Welch (born November 2, 1989) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

former

wrestler Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves diffe ...

. As a high school wrestler at

Las Lomas High School Las Lomas High School (LLHS) is a public high school in Walnut Creek, California, United States. It was founded in 1951 by the Acalanes Union High School District, and opened its doors in the fall of 1952 to its first graduating class. Las Lo ...

in Walnut Creek,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, Welch was the 13th wrestler ever to win 3

state championships. In 2008, Welch graduated and signed with

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

in Evanston,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. Welch was a four-time national qualifier and a three-time

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

Wrestling career

High school

Jason Welch attended

from 2004 to 2008. While at Las Lomas, he lettered in varsity

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, and

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

. On his way to winning 3 state championships, Welch recorded 119 consecutive victories and ended his high school career with a 194-7 win-loss record. He was named the Junior Hodge Trophy winner for 2008. According to Intermatwrestle.com, Welch was the top ranked high school wrestler when he signed to

College

Entering Northwestern in 2008, Welch started for the

as a true freshman. As a true freshman, he qualified for the

Wrestling National Championship Tournament. As a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

Welch qualified for the

tournament again and placed 6th after losing to

Bubba Jenkins Bubba Jenkins (born February 5, 1988) is an American mixed martial artist and former amateur wrestler. He currently competes in the featherweight division. He has also notably competed for Bellator MMA, Absolute Championship Berkut, Professiona ...

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

in the semi-finals to earn

honors. In 2011, during Welch's red shirt

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

season, he was invited to wrestle at the 46th NWCA All-Star Classic where he beat Ganbayar Sanjaa of

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

. Welch placed 4th for All-American honors his red-shirt junior year. Welch won the famed 49th Midlands tournament hosted by his home school, Northwestern and led Northwestern to its highest team place at the tournament with the Wildcats placing 2nd overall behind

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. In 2013, Welch won a Big Ten championship and placed 2nd at the NCAA championships, making him a 3-time NCAA All-American.

Personal life

Welch graduated as an English Major at

. He was born in Walnut Creek,

to John and Barbara Welch. Welch coached wrestling at Loyola Academy and now coaches at San Francisco State University. In his first year at SF State, he managed to produce two NCAA qualifiers and helped the young team beat Cal Baptist for the first time in years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Welch, Jason 1989 births Living people Sportspeople from Walnut Creek, California Northwestern Wildcats wrestlers