Perrysburg's Marcus Blaze splits opening matches on 1st day of Olympic wrestling trials

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — If Perrysburg’s Marcus Blaze was disappointed by being denied his goal of earning a spot on the United State’s men’s freestyle Olympic team, he didn’t show it Friday afternoon.

Blaze went 1-1 in his first two matches at the United States Olympic Team Trials and is still in contention for a third-place finish Saturday morning.

“Anything would have boosted my confidence, even if I had lost them both,” the 17-year-old said matter-of-factly. “I was in a match with a three-time NCAA finalist and two-time NCAA champion, who’s a stud. And then Nico [Megaludis] is a multiple time place-winner and NCAA champion, so my confidence would have been boosted. It feels nice to keep going.”

As the lowest-seeded wrestler at 57 kilograms, Blaze was assured of a challenging matchup in the first round. That challenge was Nick Suriano, who won national titles at Rutgers and Michigan.

Suriano led 1-0 at the end of cautious first period by both wrestlers on a pushout point. The final period started the same way, but Blaze was able to convert a slick takedown to take a 2-1 lead. He still had more than half of the period to fend off Suriano, who is 10 years his senior, with all of the wrestling experience he accumulated during those 10 years.

The clock ticked less than a minute and still Blaze led, with Suriano unable to find an opening. Then, with 34 seconds left, Suriano found that opening, hitting a decisive double to open a 3-2 lead.

“I stayed in good position the whole entire match,” Blaze said, “and I thought there was shorter time. I didn't realize where I was at, and I came to circling in I was up a little too high, and he doubled legged me. It was a good takedown. I learned from that to just stay in good position all of the time.”

Relegated to the consolation bracket, Blaze found himself paired with another savvy veteran, Nico Megaludis. The former Penn State Nittany Lion was a four-time All-American, three-time finalist, and 2016 champion.

Megaludis was the aggressor for the first three minutes and earned a pair of points to take a 2-0 lead.

“Apparently I wasn’t doing enough,” Blaze said, “which I could agree with. But I was able to come out with a takedown, so that’s all that matters.”

But after the first period, it was Blaze who was the aggressor, and it paid off with a go-behind for a takedown with 1:45 left in the match. After that, Blaze defended his lead against an aggressive Megaludis. This time, Blaze knew how to get that accomplished.

“It was just staying in good position for the entire six minutes, rather than coming out of my stance with 30 seconds to go,” he said. “I just stayed in good position the last 30 and made sure my head and hands were in the way and nothing broke through.”

Coaching Blaze is Perrysburg coach Scott Burnett and Blaze’s brother, Joey.

“The guys he's competing against are our country's best of the best on the senior level,” Burnett said, “and he is winning matches. He is one of the greatest competitors that I have ever coached and not just satisfied with competing at this level. He wants to win everything."

Blaze said his plan before his next match Saturday was simple.

“Just rest and recover,” he said. “These matches are all razor thin, and they’re not easy, so my body’s a little beat up, so I’m just going to rest and recover and come back strong for the second session.”

And, he’ll probably try to devise a game plan for his match with another precocious high school wrestler, Luke Lilledahl.

Blaze defeated him, 3-2 in the tiebreaker, in the 2021 Ironman final.

“We haven’t wrestled since the Ironman finals my freshman year,” Blaze said.

Just to have the opportunity to wrestle that match matters to Blaze.

“It means a lot. This is the Olympic Trials, the biggest stage,” he said. “It feels great, and I’m just super excited to keep on going.”