Amen Hosch

By Mike London

Salisbury Post

SALISBURY — “As men say, the apple never falls far from the stem.”

So wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1839. That’s a statement that has held true for another 186 years, although that old saying gradually evolved into the more familiar: “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

Which simply means that children tend to inherit the physical and personality traits of their parents.

That can be a beautiful thing in the arena of sports, as all-stars and champions frequently raise all-stars and champions to follow in their footsteps.

There’s a 9-year-old wrestler at North Rowan Elementary who already is winning impressive medals and titles. He’s a ripening apple who didn’t stray far at all.

His name is Amen Hosch. His first name is pronounced Ah-mon.

“Amen has been wrestling for a little over a year and his room is filling up with medals and awards,” said Shontae Hosch,  a proud aunt who competed in track and basketball and was captain of the cheerleaders at Salisbury High in the late 1990s. “We’re proud of him. He’s accomplished so much in such a short time.”

Shontae’s younger brother, Willie Hosch, is Amen’s father. Willie was was one of those guys who was born to wrestle. He was one of Rowan County’s all-time mat men in his days at Salisbury High. Hosch placed third at 130 pounds in the NCHSAA’s 1A/2A State Championships in 2000. That effort prepared him to win the 145-pound state title in 2001.

Hosch also was a Super 32 champion at 146 pounds in high school.

“I won the tournament in Greensboro and Super 32 was even bigger than state for me because the best from Virginia were there as well as North Carolina,” Hosch said.

Hosch was recruited by William Penn University, a wrestling power in the wrestling-crazy state of Iowa. He was there for two years before returning home to go to work.

He resurfaced as an elite wrestler at Catawba College. In 2004, Hosch not only was a national champion at 165 pounds, he was voted the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the National Collegiate Wrestling Association Championships. He returned to the NCWA Nationals in 2005.

Hosch stayed in shape after his competitive wrestling days ended. He played semi-pro football for the Rowan Rampage. Then he entered the Mixed Martial Arts ranks in 2012, fighting as Willie “The Warhead” Hosch.

His first MMA scrap famously lasted less time than the introductions of the combatants. He had his opponent on the canvas of a cage in 21 seconds.

He fought in MMA bouts until 2017.

About 16 months ago, Hosch introduced his son, who turned 9 in March, to wrestling.

“I didn’t force him into it, but wrestling is something he wanted to try, and it turns out that he loves the sport and enjoys the competition,” Hosch said. “He had some talent for it. After he’d been wrestling a few months, he was beating some kids who had been wrestling three years.”

There were growing pains and lessons learned, so Amen has some losses on his record, but he doesn’t lose very often now, even when he’s “double-bracketed” in tournaments, wrestling in two different age groups in the same event. That plan gives him more matches, more competition, more experience. His most recent record listing on TrackWrestling was 70-25, and the wins are multiplying quickly.

“We try to put Amen only in tournaments where there’s going to be some great competition for him,” his father said. “Some tournaments that he’s been to haven’t tested him. They’ve been a waste of our time.”

Amen, who usually wrestles at 64 pounds, already has a state title to his credit and has won several more major tournaments.

His biggest accomplishments have come recently.

He finished third in the Nuway Nationals in April.

Two weeks ago, he won the Bootleggers Junior National Championship held in Gatlinburg, Tenn., against tough competition from all over the country.

While Amen competed successfully in a number of tournaments with the East Rowan Wrestling Club in 2024, Amen wrestles unattached now. He’s a free agent, so to speak.

“I’ve got some time to work with him and I enjoy working with him, so I’ve been training him myself,” Willie said. “I hope to build a team and an organization around him someday. Amen is exceptionally athletic. He’s determined, he’s tough, he’s easy to coach, and he picks things up really quickly. I can see he’s got a passion for the sport, and he’s got the most important trait to be successful. He will never give up.”

Hosch said he has tried to “break” his son when they’re training together.

“I run with him,” Hosch said. “But he stays ahead of me. He won’t let me pass him. He’s a good sport, but he’s extra-competitive. He can be emotional, but it’s always good emotions. I’ve seen him in tears after a big victory because he wanted it so bad.”

Young Hosch will stay active this summer, but the family is pointing now for Tyrant Nationals, a huge, late-summer event in Philadelphia.

“Pennsylvania is one of the toughest wrestling areas in the country,” Willie said. “I’m going to keep building Amen up. He’s excited about the challenge.”