CLEVELAND, Ohio — Penn State freshmen PJ Duke and Marcus Blaze closed out impressive debut performances at the NCAA Wrestling Championships on Saturday afternoon, with Duke finishing third at 157 pounds and Blaze taking fourth at 133.
Duke ended his tournament on a strong note by defeating Ohio State’s Brandon Cannon for the third time this season in the bronze medal match. The Nittany Lion rolled to a 20-4 technical fall in 6:37, using relentless offense to control the bout from start to finish.
The freshman scored six takedowns in the win, capping a standout first trip to the NCAA Championships with a third-place finish and All-America honors. Duke’s victory also reinforced the consistency he showed all year against top competition, especially against Cannon, whom he solved yet again on the national stage.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.At 133 pounds, Blaze also wrapped up a memorable freshman campaign with All-America status, though he came up short in the third-place match. The Penn State standout fell to Virginia Tech’s Aaron Seidel by 5-0 decision Saturday afternoon at Rocket Arena.
Even with the loss, Blaze’s fourth-place finish marked an impressive NCAA tournament debut and gave Penn State another high-end result from its talented freshman class. Together, Duke and Blaze showed they are built to be major pieces of the program’s future.
