How Jesse Mendez Beat Marcus Blaze | WTT 2025

Here we have Marcus Blaze, high school phenom, going up against Jesse Mendez, 2 time NCAA champion from Ohio State.

First period was pretty calm, not too much happened, gotta be honest. Blaze gets put on the shot clock late in the first, gives up a point with 30 seconds left in the period because he didn’t score. Passivity cautions usually go to whoever isn’t as active and seemingly more importantly whoever doesn’t have control of the center of the mat, and that was Blaze this time.

Second period, Mendez gets put on the shot clock 30 seconds in. 2 minutes left, mendez gets to a leg off of a random high crotch, he kind of snatches it, but Blaze is able to force a stoppage as the shot clock runs out and blaze gets a point. So now Blaze is winning, 1-1, because he was the last person to score, both scores have the same amplitude, and it’s tied.

Minute 15 left in the match, blaze gets put on the shot clock, gives up a point with 50 seconds left. 2-1 Mendez.

20 seconds left, Blaze goes for a high crotch and Mendez steps out of it super well and is able to spin right behind for the takedown. The shot was fine in its own right, lifting the elbow is a very underrated setup. It was timed well, but Mendez just reacted faster.

So, this step out is definitely possible against high quality wrestlers as they take a high crotch, if you time it well you can do it when they get past your down block, you can also kick your butt as your opponent shoots and they will wrap onto your knee and you’ll just pop out of the shot because there’s no second half of your leg to hold onto. In this case however, Mendez didn’t have to do that, his leg pulled back and so he was clear from the shot altogether. There’s not much to say, it’s super impressive. This shows incredible reaction time, speed, balance, everything you’ll see from a Jesse Mendez who’s on his game.

Blaze attacks hard for the last 15 seconds but isn’t able to get anything, so Mendez wins with a score of 4-1.