Top analyst expects Penn State wrestling, Ohio State to battle for No. 1 recruit

Cael Sanderson and Penn State wrestling could soon be in for a fight with Big Ten rival Ohio State for the current No. 1 prospect in the 2025 recruiting cycle and the top high school wrestler in the country, Marcus Blaze.

On an episode of FloWrestling Radio earlier this month, analyst Christian Pyles explained that he expects Blaze’s recruitment to come down to the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions.

“To me, I think it’s down to Penn State or Ohio State, if I had to guess,” Pyles said. “I think Purdue is obviously still in the mix.

“But does he want to stay home? A couple of hours? He’s like two hours from Columbus; it sounds like Marcus is kind of a homebody. He’s still talking to Michigan. Perrysburg (Ohio) is only an hour – it’s basically a suburb of Ann Arbor – a lot of people commute from Perrysburg into Ann Arbor. So, yeah, Michigan is maybe in the mix. But I think it’s Ohio State and Penn State.”

In April, Marcus Blaze included Penn State wrestling and Ohio State on his list of six finalists. Also included was Purdue, where his brother is a rising sophomore in the Boilermakers wrestling program, Michigan, Iowa, and Cornell.

Marcus Blaze is the “top dog” of elite high school wrestlers

A three-time Ohio state champion, Blaze is 157-2 going into his senior year. Finishing third in the 57 kg weight class at Olympic Team Trials in April, the 2025 recruit is now the U.S. National Team’s alternate for the 2024 Summer Olympics following Thomas Gilman’s retirement.

Blaze proved his merit in more ways than one at the Trials, defeating Penn State wrestling signee and No.1 2024 prospect Luke Lilledahl as well as top 2026 recruit Jax Forrest. The evaluators took notice, as Blaze has been FloWrestling’s pound-for-pound top high school wrestler for two consecutive months.

“Of that bunch, Luke, Jax, Marcus, [Anthony] Knox, he’s the top dog of that crew,” Plyes said. “That crew, we’re going to look back in like five years, there are going to be a lot of NCAA titles and many of those NCAA titles are going to be coming at the other wrestlers’ expense. You can’t go wrong with any of those guys on your team.”

Where would Blaze fit with Penn State wrestling?

As Marcus Blaze approaches a decision, there is growing speculation that he may choose to stay with the in-state Buckeyes. But it isn’t enough for Christian Pyles to waiver from his original prediction for the top wrestler in the 2025 recruiting class to end up as a Nittany Lion.

“If I had to guess right now, I’d say Penn State,” he said. “Just because I predicted that earlier, and I’m not going to change. But I also think, if you ask around, the betting odds would probably favor Ohio State.”

© Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK

The bigger question may be: if Marcus Blaze does commit to Penn State, where would he be slotted into the lineup? With instant plug-and-play talent, that may be an issue Cael Sanderson needs to figure out later.

“For Penn State, where does he fit? Not that they really seem to care or worry about that very much,” Pyles said. “He’s obviously a guy that just sort of transcends lineup synergy, right? Just get him on your team. But for his purposes, you got Luke [Lilledahl], you got Braeden [Davis]. I don’t know, maybe he fits in perfectly at 133, eventually.”

Penn State wrestling currently has five commitments in the 2025 recruiting class, four of which are ranked in the top 25 of FloWrestling’s Big Board for the cycle.

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