In a tournament filled with wrestlers in their mid-to-late 20s and early 30s, current Penn State wrestling star Marcus Blaze more than held his own: he won a medal.
Blaze, a sophomore at Penn State, will return to Happy Valley from Kazakstan with a Bronze Medal at 61 KG.
He won the medal by beating Kazakstan’s own Assyl Aitakyn 4-2.
In the semifinals, Blaze gave former Worlds silver medalist Ahmad Mohammadnezhadjavan (Iran) all he could handle before falling 3-2. But Blaze responded Saturday in a big way, and to say being a senior world medalist before your sophomore college season is impressive would be an understatement.
It’s only the beginning.
Blaze had an impressive showing last season at Penn State, finishing fourth at 133 pounds and earning All-American laurels.
The man who won the national title at 133, Jax Forrest, was another true freshman, and Blaze didn’t get to wrestle him in Cleveland.
Instead, he took on Forrest at Final X, and beat him twice in a best-of-three series to earn his spot on the world team. Assuming Blaze stays at 133, a potential matchup between the two at this year’s national championships in St. Louis is enticing to say the least. Fans are already almost guaranteed to see Blaze go at it with Ohio State’s Ben Davino, who he wrestled three times last season.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Blaze beat Davino in overtime during the regular season at the Bryce Jordan Center.
In the Big Ten Championships the next month, Davino evened the score, winning in a tiebreaker.
The two met again in the national semifinal a week later, and Davino won that, also in a tiebreaker.
Blaze got another crack at Davino the next month in freestyle, and evened the score, beating him 4-1. Penn State takes on Ohio State in Columbus Feb. 12 at 6 on the Big Ten Network.
Before that, PSU will open the season Thursday, Nov. 12, against Bloomsburg in Rec Hall. That dual meet is scheduled to begin at 7 on Big Ten+.
