Northwestern's Welch new head coach at Loyola Academy near Chicago

Jason Welch, three-time NCAA All-American wrestler at Northwestern University, will be the new head wrestling coach at Loyola Academy in north suburban Chicago, the Glencoe Anchor reported Tuesday.

Welch replaces long-time coach Chris Stephens, who decided to step down to spend more time with his family while accepting a promotion at Coldwell Banker. Stephens will continue as a volunteer assistant and youth coach.

Jason Welch finished fourth at the U.S. World Team Trials at 70 kilos in 2014 (Photo/Milena Wick, Tech-Fall.com)

Welch brings stellar on-the-mat experience to the Jesuit high school located in Wilmette, Ill. A three-time California state champ at Los Lomas High, Welch was InterMat's top-ranked prep wrestler in the nation when he committed to Northwestern in 2008. As a Wildcat, Welch was a four-time qualifier for the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, earning All-American honors three times. In addition, he won the 157-pound title at the 2013 Big Ten conference championships, and was crowned champ at the 49th Ken Kraft Midlands Classic, the prestigious post-Christmas event held each year at Northwestern. As a junior, Welch earned the honor of being invited to wrestle at the 2011 NWCA All-Star Classic, where he defeated Ganbayar Sanjaa of American University.

In addition to taking on the role as head coach at Loyola Academy, Welch is in training for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and completing a master of fine arts degree through Bennington College in Vermont.

In announcing his new job at Loyola Academy, Welch also addressed his jam-packed schedule in a post on his Facebook page last week: "I'm going to continue to be heavily involved with Northwestern University wrestling as the Wildcat WC and Chicago Regional Training Center's Resident Athlete. That said, I'm lucky enough to also be supported by and involved with Wrestling Prep and Titan Mercury Wrestling Club, as well as finishing up my last year of my MFA in Creative Writing. Competing, coaching, and school will be a heavy course load, but I'm looking forward to the challenge this year."

At its website, Loyola Academy describes itself as a "Jesuit college preparatory experience." According to Wikipedia, the private, co-educational academy is the largest Jesuit high school in the U.S., with over 2,000 students from more than 80 different ZIP Codes throughout metropolitan Chicago. Loyola Academy's wrestling website features the following message: "Wrestling is an experience that prepares students for all of these and helps lay a foundation for the formation of an outstanding work ethic and moral character. This work ethic will help in fulfilling Loyola's mission of cura personalis, the formation of the whole person. Lessons learned from wrestling make student-athletes proud to call themselves wrestlers and even more proud to call themselves Ramblers (Loyola's team name)."

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Northwestern's Welch new head coach at Loyola Academy near Chicago

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