#3 Overall Senior Marcus Blaze Commits to Penn State

The top uncommitted prospect in the Class of 2025 is no longer uncommitted. Marcus Blaze (Perrysburg, OH), the number-three overall senior, has given a verbal to Penn State. He did so this morning at Perrysburg High School’s signing day ceremony. Blaze is also the top-ranked 138 lb wrestler in the nation, as per MatScouts. 

Blaze is a three-time Ohio DI state champion and has plenty of domestic and international credentials. He is a three-time Walsh Ironman placewinner (1,3,2) and got on the podium twice at the Super 32 (5,8). 

Despite being a great folkstyle wrestler, Blaze has really shined in freestyle. He won the 2022 16U national freestyle title in Fargo - after finishing fourth the previous year. Blaze was recently in action at the U20 World Championships, where he grabbed a bronze medal at 61 kg. Last year, Blaze was a U17 world champion at 55 kg. 

After earning his U20 world medal, Blaze entered the Senior World Team Trials at 61 kg and advanced to the best-of-three finals before a pair of close losses to 2023 world champion Vito Arujau. Along the way, Blaze picked up wins over NCAA champions Seth Gross and Nahshon Garrett, before defeating Senior world medalist Daton Fix. 

Blaze also was third at the 2024 Olympic Team Trials where he beat the Class of 2024 #1 recruit Luke Lilledahl and Jax Forrest. 

Blaze already has shown he’s capable of winning at the collegiate level. Last year, he entered the Clarion Open and defeated returning NCAA runner-up Matt Ramos of Purdue. 

Blaze joins what was already a loaded Penn State Class of 2025 and potentially gives Cael Sanderson’s team the #1 overall recruiting class for a second straight year. This class includes two top-ten recruits (#1 PJ Duke), along with four others ranked in the top 50 overall (#16 Will Henckel, #18 Asher Cunningham, #42 Nathan Desmond, and #47 Dalton Perry). 

Though Penn State is loaded in the back half of their depth chart, 141 lbs isn’t a weight where they are particularly deep for the future. NCAA finalist Beau Bartlett will wrap up his career this season. The Nittany Lions currently have a handful of 133’s who could potentially move up, but no clear successor at 141. Incoming recruit, Dalton Perry could also be a future 141 lber. 

Before selecting Penn State, Blaze gave special consideration to the following schools: Cornell, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State, and Purdue - with Ohio State and Purdue in his final three.