Penn State Wrestling Recruiting: No. 1 Overall Prospect Marcus Blaze Set to Make Instant Impact
Taking a look at each of the recruits in the 2025 recruiting class for Penn State Wrestling.
And as our saunter down the Nittany Lion recruiting trail comes to a close, here is the list of the previous spotlights we’ve recently put out:
Dalton Perry
Nathan Desmond
Asher Cunningham
William Henckel
PJ Duke
In this last edition, we’re going to take a look at Perrysburg High School’s Marcus Blaze.
And unless you’ve recently been working in a shady underground office while not remembering any of it, then I’m pretty confident that’s a name you’ll recognize. For obvious reasons.
Namely the fact that according to FloWrestling, Marcus is the No. 1 overall recruit in the entire 2025 recruiting class. Additionally, he also occupies the top spot in their most recent 2024-2025 High School P4P rankings.
So before we take a look at how Blaze fits in with next season’s Penn State Wrestling lineup, let’s roll out the lengthy scroll of his biggest accomplishments.
Accomplishments Marcus Blaze brings to Penn State Wrestling
Marcus Blaze Accomplishments
-Won his fourth OHSAA state titles, becoming the 34th Ohio wrestler to do such
-Finished his high school career with a record of 200-2
-During his most recent state title run, outscored his opponents a combined 57-11 (fall, tech fall, tech fall, and tech fall)
-2023 gold medalist at the U17 World Championships (55 kg – Istanbul)
-2024 bronze medalist at the U20 World Championships (61 kg – Pontevedra)
-3rd place in the 2024 Olympic Trials (57 kg)
-2nd place in the 2024 World Team Trials (61 kg)
-2024 Ironman Champion
-2025 Findlay Open Champion
-2024 Clarion Open runner-up
Did you get all of that?
When you can’t get through an entire list of someone’s accomplishments in one breath, then you know they’re good.
Aside from his incredible wrestling prowess in both high school and on the international stage, I’d like to point out something else. Take a look at the last two entries on the above list.
Both of those are college tournaments.
The Findlay Open is a DII tournament, and the Clarion Open is DI. Furthermore, Clarion attracts some top-tier talent each year.
Case in point, check out who he faced just in that tournament:
Caleb Weiand (Michigan State) – 2025 National Qualifier
Result – Blaze 20-4 tech. fall 6:57
Matt Ramos (Purdue) – Four-time NCAA Qualifier and Two-time NCAA All-American
Result – Blaze 4-1 dec. SV
Markel Baker (George Mason) – 45-21 career record
Result – Blaze 14-5 major dec.
Brayden Palmer (Chattanooga) – Three-time NCAA Qualifier and career record of 64-26
Result – Palmer 6-4 dec.
What does all of this mean?
Well, in short, it points to the obvious. Which is that Marcus Blaze might be one of the most college-ready wrestlers in quite sometime.
So now, let’s look at how he fits into the Penn State Wrestling lineup.
Fit for Penn State Wrestling
Now, I do realize that Marcus wrestled his most recent OHSAA tournament 150 pounds. However, this is not where I think he will fall in the Nittany Lion lineup.
Why?
Well, it’s because Blaze bumped up two full weight classes a month prior to the tournament. Which is simply staggering. It’s one thing for a guy to move up or down a slot. But two?
Additionally, take a peek at the results from above. He wasn’t just “good” at 150. He was a one-man destruction crew.
But most importantly, at least to me, is the reason. Marcus indicated he moved up two spots so that he could help his team qualify more wrestlers for the state tournament.
That right there is a team guy who will do anything to help the rest of the guys in the room. So it’s no wonder that Cael Sanderson wanted him in the Penn State Wrestling room.
So now back to his fit. With Beau Bartlett riding into the sunset following his third place finish in the 2025 NCAA Championships, the Nittany Lions have an opening at 141.
And I think this is the exact spot that Blaze is going to wrestle at in college.
The only question is whether or not Braeden Davis or Aaron Nagao move up to 141 as well. Because even though some wrestling outlets believe Masanosuke Ono will redshirt next season, I think quite the opposite. Ono is simply too good of a wrestler not to be in the starting lineup at 133.
And if I was a betting man, then I would put all of my chips on the “Marcus Blaze will start at 141 for Penn State Wrestling next season” line on the craps table. Well, that is, assuming a line like that existed.
One can always hope, right?
Education: Penn State University
Location: State College, PA
Even though he had no prior journalism experience, Chris has now covered Penn State Wrestling and Penn State Football for the past three years, including as the Penn State Wrestling Beat Writer for VictoryBellRings.com, part of the FanSided network.
And it's clear he also likes constant torture as he's been a PSU Basketball fan for way too long.
Several years back, Chris made the seamless transition from PGA Professional to computer programmer and thoroughly enjoys following and writing about all things related to Penn State sports during his spare time.