Marcus Blaze is the 55kg rep for this year’s U17 world team, the #1 ranked wrestler in the country at 126 pounds, and the #4 ranked recruit in the class of 2025 out of Perrysburg, Ohio. We recently caught up with Blaze to get an inside perspective on his experience in the first few days of the recruiting process and to hear how he plans on approaching the coming months. 

June 15 was the first-day college coaches were able to call recruits in the class of 2025. That was also when Blaze was traveling to Tulsa, Oklahoma to compete at the Junior Duals (where he ultimately went 9-0). Blaze jokingly gave advice to recruits in the class of 2026 on June 15 next year - “Don’t be on a plane.” Blaze shared trying to take calls during his layovers wasn’t the ideal situation - especially with over 30 coaches calling on the first day. Despite the chaos, Blaze is staying patient in the process in order to find the right fit for him at the next level.

Who Is On Blaze’s College List?

At this point, Blaze shared he’s taking his time both with taking official visits and establishing a list of top schools. Blaze doesn’t have a top 5 or 10 school list yet, but he has a few preferences early on in his recruiting process. At this point, he’s leaning towards staying close to home for college (within 6-7 hours). Beyond that, wrestling in the Big 10 is appealing to Blaze but he’s open to looking at schools outside of the premier wrestling conference. 

We also talked about the potential of wrestling with his older brother Joey at the next level. Currently, Joey is the #1 ranked wrestler in the country at 160 pounds and will be heading to Purdue in the fall. Marcus shared that he’d love to wrestle with his brother in college but he doesn’t feel any added pressure to be a Boilermaker. He’s certainly considering Purdue but knows that Joey will support him whether or not he commits there. 

When Will Marcus Blaze Make His Decision?

Blaze is staying patient in the recruiting process and is mostly focused on preparing for the U17 World Championships (Blaze will wrestle on August 4-5 at U17 Worlds). In fact, early next month Blaze is excited about the opportunity to travel to Colorado Springs for two weeks to train with both the senior and U17 world team. So when should we expect Blaze to commit? He doesn’t have a specific date in mind but he plans on taking his time and will likely commit after the next wrestling season. 

Blaze's win over Anthony Knox to make the U17 World Team:

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