Penn State Wrestling's Marcus Blaze Scores Thrilling Win Over Jax Forrest at Final X

Marcus Blaze didn't get the chance to wrestle Jax Forrest at the NCAA Championships or the U.S. Open. But he took advantage of the opportunity Friday at Final X to earn his first trip to the Senior World Championships.

Blaze rallied from a Match 2 loss with a brilliant second-period sequence in the decisive third match, beating Forrest 5-2 to claim the 61 kg men's freestyle title at Final X in Newark, New Jersey. With the victory, Blaze earned a chance to win a Senior title at the World Wrestling Championships in October in Kazakhstan.

Blaze, who will be a sophomore at Penn State next season, also won praise for his mastery of freestyle wrestling.

"His style is built for freestyle," FloWrestling analyst Jordan Burroughs said on the event broadcast. "... He's a grand master of this."

Blaze proved that over three fierce bouts with Forrest, the 133-pound NCAA champion from Oklahoma State. He forced a step-out point with 20 seconds left in Round 1 to win 2-2 on criteria. Forrest got revenge in Round 2, turning a four-point move into a decisive 6-1 victory to force the tiebreaking third match.

But then Blaze did this in Round 3.

This sequence propelled Marcus Blaze to victory over Jax Forrest to make the World team #finalx pic.twitter.com/1CT6T9Y8cj
— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) June 19, 2026

Trailing 1-0, as he did at the break of all three matches, Blaze turned an aggressive move into a two-point takedown and the lead. Then Blaze smartly caught Forrest pausing flat on his stomach, turning him for two exposure points and a 4-1 advantage. Forrest looked stunned, and Blaze held that for a victory that echoed through Prudential Arena.

Blaze-Forrest was among the most anticipated matches at Final X. It paired two 19-year-old freshmen who have been among the best wrestlers at their weight classes in freestyle and folkstyle for several years. This time, Blaze got the edge in freestyle.

A freestyle master

Marcus Blaze scores a late takedown to win match 1 over Jax Forrest 2-2 #finalx pic.twitter.com/o9yYc3TDFI
— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) June 19, 2026

Blaze heads to Senior Worlds with an accomplished age-group world resume in freestyle wrestling. He's a two-time age-group world champion, having won a U17 title before claiming a U20 championship last year. And Blaze earned a trip to Kazakhstan with a series win over one of the biggest stories in college wrestling last season.

Forrest, who is from Johnstown, Pennsylvania, committed to David Taylor and Oklahoma State, where he enrolled midway through the academic year. Forrest jumped right into the Cowboys' lineup and went on to win the NCAA title at 133 pounds. He and Blaze did not wrestle in Cleveland, as the Penn State freshman fell in the semifinals on his way to fourth.

The two also missed each other at the U.S. Open, which Blaze won to earn the automatic bid to Final X. In Las Vegas, Blaze called the title "bittersweet." He had been sick for the NCAA Championships in March and didn't have his best stuff.

"It just feels good to get back out on the mat and push the pace like I’m used to doing and getting to my offense," Blaze said after his U.S. Open win.

Blaze had an exceptional season for the Nittany Lions, going 25-3 and placing second at the Big Ten Championships. He was unbeaten and seeded first for the conference tournament but lost a pair of 3-2 decisions to Ohio State's Ben Davino in the Big Ten final and NCAA semifinals.

Blaze then defeated Davino in the U.S. Open final after Davino had topped Forrest. Clearly, Blaze is a fan of freestyle wrestling.

"It makes wrestling, wrestling," Blaze said of freestyle at the U.S. Open. "You have to wrestle or else you get pushed out of bounds, and then it’s not fun. But I’m going to become the best folkstyle wrestler that I can become. Because right now those are the rules, and that’s what I need to deal with, so I’m going to have to figure something out."

Marcus Blaze made the U.S. Senior World Team at 61 kg. Blaze won 2-2, lost 6-1, and won 5-2 over Jax Forrest at Final X. pic.twitter.com/qP9LwcB7gR
— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) June 19, 2026

Blaze joins former Penn State teammate Levi Haines on the 2026 Senior World team. Haines, a two-time NCAA champion for the Nittany Lions, swept Chance Marsteller to make the U.S. team at 79 kg for the second straight year. Haines finished second at worlds in 2025.

Zain Retherford, a three-time NCAA champion at Penn State, returned to worlds for the first time since 2023 with a series sweep of Ridge Lovett at 70 kg. Penn State's Luke Lilledahl lost his best-of-three series at 57 kg to Spencer Lee, a 2024 Olympic silver medalist.

Sign up to our free Penn State Nittany Lions newsletter and follow us on social media.

Add us as a preferred source on Google