Perrysburg senior standout wrestler Marcus Blaze will bump up two weight classes in pursuit of his fourth straight state title.
Blaze has compiled a 32-0 record while wrestling in the 138-pound weight class this season. He will compete in the 150-pound weight class at the Clay Division I sectional tournament this weekend.
The young phenomenon, who has already had great success at the national and international levels of the sport, committed in November to wrestle at college powerhouse Penn State.
Blaze, the No. 1 ranked high school wrestler in the country, has a 189-2 prep career record entering the postseason.
Blaze is looking to become Ohio’s 34th four-time state champion. He won his first state title as a freshman at 113 pounds in 2022. He then won the 120-pound title as a sophomore in 2023. Last season, he went 50-1 and won the state championship at 132 pounds.
Perrysburg coach Scott Burnett said the coaching staff had a couple of possible lineup scenarios for the end of the year to put the team in a position to try to maximize its number of state qualifiers.
The shift was made primarily due to an injury to Shane Saito (157).
Burnett said Blaze came to the coaching staff and asked what was best for the team. He then volunteered to go up to 150.
“He is such a competitor and loves his team so much that he is willing to put everything on the line for us [to] potentially have success,” Burnett said. “Marcus is special and will be able to handle and deal with being small for the weight. I never bet against Marcus Blaze. He is the greatest high school wrestler ever.”
Senior Cole Evans also has moved up to 157 and junior Beckett Walters is up to 165.
“They did it all for the team,” Burnett said.
Last weekend, Blaze won his fourth consecutive Northern Lakes League championship while competing at 138. He was one of 12 Yellow Jackets to win individual titles as they cruised to the NLL Buckeye Division title.
After winning state last March, Blaze qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials and placed third at the event in April at 57 kilograms. Last fall, he finished third at the U-20 World Championships in Spain before making the finals at the USA Senior World Team Trials in Omaha.
Perrysburg has 10 wrestlers who are the top seed at the sectional tournament, which starts Saturday.
The top seeds are freshman Connor Bagdonas (106), junior Ayden Dodd (113), sophomore Grey Burnett (120), junior Brody Bauman (138), senior Kaden Soto (144), Blaze (150), Evans (157), senior Josh Takats (190), senior Ben Sawaya (215), and senior Eric Bush (285).
Blaze, Evans, and Burnett won state titles last March as Perrysburg finished second as a team behind power Lakewood St. Edward. Perrysburg also finished second in 2023, 2022, and 2014.
First Published February 21, 2025, 9:18 p.m.
