WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Joey Blaze and Greyson Clark were named Big Ten Preseason Wrestlers to Watch on the conference’s annual list, which released on Friday.
Joey Blaze, ranked No. 3 in the country at his new weight of 165 lbs, is coming off an NCAA runner-up season in which he became Purdue’s 62nd All-American. He begins his junior season riding a tidal wave of hype.
Despite wrestling with a taped-up knee at a slimmer weight than his frame would suggest, Blaze cruised all the way to the NCAA title match as the No. 8 seed at 157, knocking off No. 1 Tyler Kasak (Penn State) along the way. In the offseason, Blaze took more huge steps forward and competed on the national stage, placing fourth at Senior World Team Trials to earn a spot at Final X. He won the prestigious Ziolkowski Memorial tournament representing Team USA in Warsaw, Poland, and brings international acclaim into his junior season.
Fellow junior Greyson Clark, ranked No. 18 at 141 lbs, is a two-time NCAA qualifier who has accomplished a lot despite being relatively limited while battling injuries his past two seasons. His No. 18 preseason ranking is a personal high as he looks to have a breakthrough third year as a Boilermaker. Last season at Philadelphia’s NCAA Championships, Clark defeated No. 29 Jordan Soriano (Drexel) in a 13-3 major for his second career win at nationals.
A healthy Clark has real All-American potential. His journey to potential glory starts Saturday night with a big opportunity against No. 4 Zeth Romney at Cal Poly. A win would be the highest ranked victory of his career.
Purdue opens the season against the Mustangs on Saturday night at 9 p.m. ET in San Luis Obispo, Calif. A free live stream of the event is available on Cal Poly Wrestling’s X/Twitter account, linked here.