Marcus Blaze
American wrestler (born 2006)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Marcus Glenn Blaze (born November 23, 2006) is an American freestyle and folkstyle wrestler who competes at 61 kilograms and 133 pounds.[1] In freestyle, he was the 2025 U20 World champion, upgrading a bronze medal from the 2024 edition, and the U17 World champion in 2023.[2] Blaze was an NCAA Division I All-American for the Penn State Nittany Lions in 2026.[3]
Blaze in 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Marcus Glenn Blaze | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | November 23, 2006 Clinton, Michigan, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home town | Perrysburg, Ohio, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 61 kg (134 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Wrestling | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event(s) | Freestyle and Folkstyle | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Perrysburg Wrestling Club | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Scott Burnett | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Career
High school
2022–2023
Originally from Michigan, Blaze started wrestling at an early age alongside his brother Joey before moving to Perrysburg, Ohio.[4] A four-time OHSAA state champion out of Perrysburg High School, Blaze is one of the top-ranked high school wrestlers in his weight class.[5]
In 2023, he defeated top-ranked in NCAA Division I Matt Ramos during a college open while a high school junior.[6] In the U17 freestyle age group, Blaze claimed a U.S. national championship and a world championship at 55 kilograms in 2023.[7]
2024
Making his senior level debut, Blaze competed at the US Olympic Team Trials at 57 kilograms in April 2024, as a high school junior.[8] After a first-round loss to two-time NCAA champion Nick Suriano, he came back to defeat NCAA champion Nico Megaludis and U20 World finalist Luke Lilledahl before receiving a forfeit to make the third-place match, where he defeated U17 World finalist Jax Forrest to make the US National team.[9]
Back to the age group, now in his first year of U20, Blaze made the US World Team at 61 kilograms in August and earned a bronze medal from the U20 World Championships in September, only losing to eventual 2024 world champion Masanosuke Ono from Japan.[10][11]
A week after his bronze-medal performance, Blaze went back to the senior level to compete at the US World Team Trials. Storming to the finals, he took out 2018 NCAA champion Seth Gross, 2016 NCAA champion Nahshon Garrett, and 2021 world silver medalist Daton Fix to make the best-of-three.[12] In the finals, he was defeated back to back by reigning world champion Vito Arujau, earning second.[13]
2025
In April, Blaze placed third at the US Open National Championships, notably defeating NCAA champion Nathan Tomasello and three-time All-American Michael McGee, though falling to NCAA champion Seth Gross.[14]
In May, Blaze bumped up to 65 kilograms to compete at the US World Team Trials, where he was victorious in four out of five matches, notably defeating U17 World champion Bo Bassett and falling to two-time NCAA champion Jesse Mendez.[15] In June, he defeated Brock Hardy in a true-third match at Final X to earn a spot on the US National Team.[16]
