PERRYSBURG, Ohio — Perrysburg wrestling won the Northern Lakes League title last season for the third year in a row.
Led by the Blaze Brothers, the Jackets will try to make it four years in a row.
In the last 10 years, Perrysburg wrestling has won the NLL title all but one of those years. This 2022 team has several big names. Joey and Marcus Blaze are two names you’re going to hear a lot. The brothers have pushed each other to earn their accolades.
"They're competitive with each other, but they love each other," said Perrysburg wrestling head coach Scott Burnett. "Marcus is so good that if Joey, when they're wrestling or working out, if Joey's not on point Marcus could score on him and push him."
"It's awesome because if I see something that he's doing wrong or he sees something that I'm doing wrong, we bounce it off each other," said Joey. "Even if our team as a whole is doing something wrong, it's awesome."
"He's always giving me big, big pointers in different positions as in like my defense," said Marcus. "He's really known for having very good defense when people get to his legs so he's actually helped me a lot in that position."
Joey, a junior, won the state title last year and is back to do it again.
His little brother Marcus, a freshman, just made a splash onto the high school wrestling scene. He won the prestigious Ironman tournament, making him the number one wrestler in the country at his weight class.
"These kids, they know what Ironman is and what it's about," said Burnett. "For him to go and then win, especially as a freshman, that tournament is so elite. For him to get to the top of that and beat the guys that he beat, it's a big deal."
"I compete in a lot of tournaments that are big and I like the pressure on me," said Marcus. "Knowing that I'm number one and people want to take me out every weekend, it's kind of fun."
The two are in different weight classes and have different styles but they have a couple of things in common, their last name and the competitive desire to be the best.