WEIRTON — At age 77, Weirton resident Bill Welker is giving his final hoorah.

He has accomplished a task which means a great deal to him … about a topic that has meant a great deal to him throughout the last seven decades. Welker’s last hoorah is the fourth and final book he has written, entitled “The Eyes of a Wrestler.”

Writing has always interested Welker. It is a traditional and honorable form of communicating and a way in which one can express their thoughts, he explained.

It is a way of being able to express himself and gives him the platform to fully explain his thoughts, feelings and beliefs.

Welker published his first article in 1974. It was a book about amateur wrestling — a sport he has been involved with since 1955.

“I realized from the very beginning that an author should write about topics they are interested in,” Welker began. “Something they know a lot about.” He began with short columns and articles for local newspapers. From 1978 until 2010, he wrote a column entitled “Mat Talk” for the Wheeling, Martins Ferry, Steubenville and Weirton newspapers.

As an educator, Welker wrote a column called “Hitting the Books” so as to help parents work with their children and to assist teachers working with their students.

He has written op/eds on the field of education and hot social topics of interest. He has penned scholarly articles on the art and science of education, publishing more than 600 articles throughout the last five decades.

However, his first published work was a technical book written in 2005 called “The Wrestling Drill Book.” It is now in its second edition, having sold more than 36,000 copies.

But it wasn’t until he retired from teaching that he began writing major works, including his memoirs in 2014 through a book called “The Sparrow’s Spirit.” The memoirs received a personal growth category award in the Beverly Hills Book Awards competition. To date, Welker has written four novels dealing with high school and college wrestling. His works include: “A Wrestler’s Curse,” “The Novel Wrestler,” “One Wrestler’s Courage,” and his latest and final book, “The Eyes of a Wrestler.”

“A Wrestler’s Curse,” was designated a finalist in the sports category by judges in the National Indie Excellence Awards.

“There are very few books written on the subject amateur wrestling,” Welker commented, who again, followed his advice and wrote about what he knew. Welker’s advice to aspiring writers? Write about things you are very familiar with — “We are our experiences.”

He explained he imagines the conclusion of the story first, then begins writing with the ending always guiding the storyline.

“There must be a human struggle of some kind which the main character has to overcome,” Welker explained. “There must be some kind of conflict: Man versus self, man versus man, man versus society or man versus nature.”

During his writing, he often has new ideas come to mind, changing the direction of the plot. He conducts lots of research regarding the places he mentions in his novels in order to make the story even more realistic, he explained. And he always keeps his primary audience in mind while writing. The most important phase is the editing, he continued, noting he spends endless hours editing his books for typos. However, the most important thing Welker would like people to know, is all of his novels have reflected his life’s values, which were taught to him by his parents and grandparents.

Welker always touched on dealing with coming-of-age situations, such as drug addiction, bullying, racial matters and negative peer pressure. Matters all adolescents face even today as they mature into adults. He interjects Christian values without being “too preachy,” he noted.

“Although my main characters — both male and female — are fiercely-competitive in sports, they demonstrate compassion and respect toward their athletic adversaries. Even the arrogant ones who learned humility encountering the protagonists,” he continued.

Welker and his wife, Peggy, have been married 55 years. The two share four children, 15 grandchildren and are awaiting their fifth great-grandson.

“We have tried throughout our lives to be compassionate, to be fair and to be loving to all people,” he said. “Attributes that Jesus taught throughout the four gospels. A very challenging task at times.”

Welker served as a classroom reading specialist for 40 years. His granddaughter, Molly Brinker, posed for the cover of his fourth and final book, “The Eyes of A Wrestler.” She was a youth wrestler at one point, as well as an honors student, varsity track sprinter and member of Young Life at Wheeling Park High School. She sees to it that her grandpa gets to church.

“The joy of writing — especially a memoir — is holding the final published hard copy of the book in your hands,” Welker concluded. “It gives the author a sense of creative accomplishment. That’s why I truly love to write.”

Welker’s books can be purchased on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Rosedog Bookstore or by browsing “Bill Welker books” online. “The Eyes of A Wrestler,” follows a young middle-school girl whose well-to-do parents take her on a family trip to Philadelphia. The parents are murdered by carjackers right before her eyes, and she is forced to stay with relatives. Filled with anger and rage, her uncle suggests she join the school’s wrestling team as an outlet for her frustrations.

A fierce competitor on the mat and a fierce sharpshooter she later discovers, she deals with the fact she has always know the perpetrators of her parents murders. With her remarkable marksmanship skills and her lifetime of guilt, she knows it is time for retribution … you be the judge of her final decision.

Welker was named Teacher of the Year in 2009 by the Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce and received the Jasper N. Deahl Alumni Award for his contributions to the field of education from West Virginia University in 2014.

He was named the West Virginia Wrestling Sportswriter of the Year an unprecedented seven times and was selected as the National Wrestling Sportswriter of the Year by Wrestling USA Magazine.

He served as an active wrestling and baseball official who promoted youth, middle- and high-school sports for more than 30 years in the Upper Ohio Valley and was inducted into the OVAC Hall of Fame in 2021.