Dr. William A. (Bill) Welker has over 60 years of experience as a successful wrestler, coach, and official. He is a former Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) state champion (1963) and PIAA state runner-up (1965).

He held the most career wins (83) and received the Robert A. Kemp Most Outstanding Wrestler Award at old Shamokin (Pennsylvania) High School his senior year. Welker also competed at the collegiate level for the University of Pittsburgh.

For his successful efforts as a 10-year high school wrestling coach, Welker was selected as one of the top wrestling coaches in the country by Scholastic Wrestling News in 1979.

Welker was the co-founder of the Greater Wheeling Small-Fry Wrestling League in 1977. He also co-founded the West Virginia Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2003.

In 2005, Welker retired after 25 years as a wrestling referee. During his officiating tenure, he has been named the West Virginia Official of the Year (1990), Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Official of the Year (2003), National Federation of High School Associations (NFHS) Mideast Section Distinguished Active Official of the Year (2001), National Official of the Year by Wrestling USA Magazine (2002), as well as the magazine's West Virginia Man of the Year (2001).

From 1989 until 2017, Welker held the position of West Virginia state clinician, rules interpreter and state tournament supervisor of officials. He also served on the NFHS National Wrestling Rules Committee from 2012 until 2015.

Having published over 600 articles since 1974, he was named the National Wrestling Sportswriter of the Year by Wrestling USA Magazine in 1987 & 2013, and he has received the West Virginia Snyder-Miller Wrestling Media Award an unprecedented seven times by the state wrestling coaches association.

Besides publishing two best-selling editions of The Wrestling Drill Book, he also wrote the script and produced The Pancake Takedown Series. In 2016, Welker wrote his memoirs The Sparrow's Spirit: A Champion Wrestler's Lifetime Reflections on Prayer and Perseverance, which is filled with numerous wrestling anecdotes.

Since writing his memoirs, Welker has authored four wrestling-oriented novels: A Wrestler’s Curse, The Novel Wrestler, One Wrestler’s Courage ... from Survival on the Streets to Success on the Mats, and The Eyes of a Wrestler ... a Girl’s Journey of Courage and Perseverance in Sports and Life.

Welker has been elected to five wrestling halls of fame, which includes the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame (1990), the District Four Wrestling Hall of Fame (2000), the National Wrestling Hall of Fame (West Virginia Chapter) in 2008, the Pennsylvania Wrestling Hall of Fame (2010), and the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Hall of fame (2021). He also received the prestigious Master of Wrestling Award from Wrestling USA Magazine in 2008.

Welker earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Pittsburgh. He later acquired a doctorate in the field of education from West Virginia University. Upon his retirement from teaching (40 years) in 2009, Welker was honored by being named "Teacher of the Year" by the Wheeling (West Virginia) Area Chamber of Commerce.

Most recently, Welker received West Virginia University's prestigious Jasper N. Deahl Award (2014) and the Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award (2017) for career accomplishments and community service.

Bill Welker and his wife, Peggy, have four children and are enjoying their 15 grandchildren. They reside on Wheeling Island in Wheeling, West Virginia.