Perrysburg junior Marcus Blaze will wrestle for a gold medal at the U17 World Championships in Istanbul on Saturday.
Representing Team USA, Blaze won four matches Friday to advance to the finals of the 55-kilogram weight class of the freestyle competition. He posted a dominant technical fall over Samvel Gevorgyan of Armenia 11-0 in the semifinals to earn a spot in the finals against India’s Ankush Ankush.
Blaze won his quarterfinal match 10-0 over Oubayda Itaev of France. Blaze advanced to the quarterfinals with a 12-1 win over Azatberdi Ashyrgulyyev of Turkmenistan in his second-round bout.
Blaze won his opening-round match earlier in the day 2-1 over Amirreza Ali Teymorizad of Iran.
On April 30, Blaze won his weight class at the U.S. Open Wrestling Championship as a No. 3 seed to earn a chance to represent Team USA at the world championships.
In his high school career, Blaze has posted a 107-1 record and has won two Division I state titles.
First Published August 4, 2023, 3:46 p.m.
