What is Penn State wrestling getting in Marcus Blaze, and where could he fit into the lineup?: Commitment impact

Penn State wrestling put an exclamation point on its Class of 2025 Wednesday when it landed Marcus Blaze. The Perrysburg, Ohio senior is one of the top recruits in the country, a three-time Ohio state champ, U17 gold medalist, U20 bronze medalist, and runner-up at the Senior World Team level despite being just 17 years old and entering his final prep season. Simply put, the Lions landed another star, and his resume is almost unmatched.

“He’s among the most prodigious high school wrestlers of all time,” Willie Saylor, who is the editor and publisher of MatScouts on Rofkin, told Blue-White Illustrated. “Prior to his junior season in high school, he beat NCAA Runner Up Matt Ramos, who was coming off a win over Spencer Lee. After winning a Cadet World Title, he took 3rd at the Olympic Trials, medaled Junior Worlds, and was runner up at the 2024 World Team Trials where he beat former World Teamers Nahshon Garrett and Daton Fix.

“On the high school level, he’s been virtually untouchable, losing only one match in his career – an overtime bout at Ironman to Ben Davino, a fellow Cadet World Team Member and my #4 overall prospect a year ahead of Marcus. It’s the lone blemish in an otherwise spotless resume and perhaps the greatest high school career of all time.”

Where could Blaze end up in the Penn State lineup?

Blaze is No. 3 on MatScout’s Class of 2025 big board, No. 2 in its pound-for-pound high school rankings, and the top-ranked wrestler at 138 pounds. Saylor projects him at 141 pounds in college. But, as is always the case, how he does or does not grow in the months ahead will play a role in where he starts his time in State College.

“It’s much more difficult to project weights now than it was 15 years ago,” Saylor told BWI. “And I think that’s a good thing. The sport is healthier now, and focused more on athleticism and development more than cutting weight as a means of advantage.

“Prospects almost never seem to wrestle below my projected weight; when I’m wrong on a weight projection, it’s almost invariably that they go up. Which could be the case with Marcus, who, if needed, might be able to begin his career at 133. But it would be a hard pull for him, consistently, and that’s not the current trend. I have him slotted at 141 and feel pretty confident he stays there for quite a while as he focuses on 65 kilograms (143lbs) for freestyle competition. 149 could be in play, too, later in his career.”

Penn State 141-pound senior Beau Bartlett will close out his time in college during the 2024-2025 season. Blaze may not end up being a plug-and-place option for the Lions in 2025-2026. But, there’s a good chance that he will be.

Final word

When asked why the Nittany Lions were successful in this recruitment, Saylor focused on Penn State’s historic success in NCAA finals bouts. Since 2011, PSU wrestlers are 38-18 in national title bouts.

“Saturday nights,” Saylor said. “You can be successful at a lot of programs, but no one comes close to consistently seeing their pupils hit their goals than Penn State. In an individual sport where countless hours of effort and attention to detail is spent ensuring all facets of your training environment is optimized, it makes sense that aspiring talent chooses the school with the results that are exponentially greater than other options.”