KANSAS CITY — Purdue University freshman wrestler Joey Blaze (Perrysburg) finished the season 17-10, qualifying for the NCAA Division I tournament last weekend.

Blaze and teammate Greyson Clark made the NCAA tournament following fantastic collegiate debut seasons. It is only the third time in program history that two true-freshmen qualified in the same season, happening only in 2021 and 1947.

Blaze’s No. 23 seed was the fourth highest ever for a Purdue true-freshman. Blaze lost both of his matches in overtime, giving up a 4-1 decision to Central Michigan’s No. 25 Johnny Lovett in the second session. In the first session he lost to No. 10 Jared Franek (Iowa), 3-2, in a second tie-breaker.

In January in Lincoln, Nebraska, Blaze had a big win but Purdue ultimately lost its match with No. 6 Nebraska 27-14 in the Devaney Center. Blaze’s third period pin of No. 3 Peyton Robb highlighted the day for the Boilermakers.

Then-No. 16 Blaze picked up the second top-five win of his debut campaign by pinning (6:22) Robb, a two-time All-American. Trailing 2-1 late in the third with Robb on top, Blaze backed out of a one-swipe hold against him and put the Cornhusker on his back for the fall.

In November, Purdue opened its dual season at the 2023 Journeymen Wranglemania event, first winning in decisive fashion against Army before dropping a tough matchup with No. 3 North Carolina State.

Blaze came to Purdue as a highly touted recruit and was already making a name for himself. In his first collegiate dual action, he went 2-0 with both wins coming against ranked opponents.

The highlight of the day came when he knocked off No. 5 Ed Scott of N.C. State in sudden victory, overpowering the junior for a throw-by takedown.

The matchup with No. 3 N.C. State did not go the Boilermakers’ way. Blaze’s upset of Scott was the lone match win for Purdue against the Wolfpack.

Last April, Blaze and Clark were named state winners for the annual Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award by the the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Three state titles and a Super 32 championship for Blaze helped propel him to become the top recruit from the state of Ohio and earn his spot as the state’s award winner.

The DSHSEA was established in 1996 to honor Olympic and World champion Dave Schultz of Oklahoma, whose career was cut short when he was murdered in January 1996. He was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member in 1997 and as a member of the United World Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016.

Blaze, the Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Association Wrestler of the Year his senior year, led Perrysburg to Division I runner-up finishes at the 2022 and 2023 state meets in Columbus. He finished with a high school career record of 184-7.

At the close of his career, he was ranked the No. 15 pound-for-pound wrestler in the country via MatScouts and the No. 17 overall recruit by MatScouts.

Blaze was the No. 1 recruit in his weight class according to both MatScouts and FloWrestling, tabbed No. 18 in the class on FloWrestling’s Big Board, and named the best prospect in the class from Ohio by MatScouts and FloWrestling.

Blaze trained in the offseason at Burnett Wrestling Club. His parents are Joseph and Addie Blaze, he has a sister Payton, and his brother Marcus, a junior at Perrysburg, won a World Junior championship in Istanbul, Turkey last summer, is a three-time state champion and led the Yellow Jackets to their third straight state runner-up finish behind Lakewood St. Edward earlier in March.