Not just singlets: Purdue Wrestling star utilizes HTM selling and sales management skills to run own apparel line

Purdue University wrestler Joey Blaze wears one of his T-shirts from his clothing line, Blaze Apparel. Going into his junior year, Blaze uses lessons in his selling and sales management classes within the Purdue College of Health and Human Sciences for marketing and product ideas.(Tim Brouk)

Written by: Tim Brouk, tbrouk@purdue.edu

Since he first donned a singlet for Purdue University Wrestling, Joey Blaze has been on fire.

Going into his junior year, Blaze’s All-American mat accolades are numerous: Just to name a few, he has an overall 41-18 win-loss record, finished as the national runner-up at the 2025 NCAA Championships and placed third in the Big Ten tournament.

When he’s not pinning his opponents, Blaze manages his own clothing line, Blaze Apparel, utilizing lessons from his selling and sales management major within the Purdue White Lodging-J.W. Marriott, Jr. School of Hospitality and Tourism Management. A small operation for now, the student has designed sweatshirts, T-shirts, shorts and hats while maintaining the line’s website and busy social media accounts.

Joey Blaze celebrates after another victory for Purdue Wrestling.(photo provided)

“I love clothes. I’m addicted to clothes,” explained Blaze, who wrestled his first two years in the 157-pound class. “There’s a bunch of fighters like (mixed martial artist) Sean O’Malley that have (an apparel line), for example. He has his whole Sean O’Malley clothing line, and he does collaborations with other companies and stuff like that. So, I saw that and thought, ‘Dang, dude, that’d be super cool to have something in that kind of capacity.’ So, I started making it.”

Blaze was introduced to selling and sales management by Matt Ramos, a 2024 HTM alumnus, former Purdue wrestling star and now a coach for the team. 

While wrestling is still No. 1 for Blaze, the apparel line will continue and grow no matter where his mat skills take him — nationals, the Olympics or even the UFC.

Why did you decide to study selling and sales management, and how is it working out, especially with Blaze Apparel in the mix?

Matt (Ramos) talked to me about it and was like, ‘You’d be perfect for something like selling and sales, where it’s more talking-based and more social.’ I got into it, and I like it. It’s a cool thing. You get to learn business and how to manage and talk to people, which is important. I’ve learned how to market my brand for my future careers too.

What careers are you pursuing?

My goals are to be an NCAA champion, an Olympic champion, and then I want to eventually start getting into mixed martial arts and be a UFC champion. I just work toward my goals every day. I just try to stay consistent in that. And my lifestyle is consistent. I just try to be me and have fun for as long as I can and hope those goals come along the way.

You’ve achieved a lot at Purdue wrestling at ages 18 and 19. What are your thoughts on this early success?

It’s pretty special to do it at a place like this and to be able to get those kinds of accolades that you’re always chasing and dreaming of as a wrestler. But for me, I didn’t win (the 2025 NCAA tournament), so it’s like there’s always that. I’m just super grateful to be here and be around the people that I am. I couldn’t have done it without people like Matt (Ramos), Coach (Tony) Ersland and Coach (Leroy) Vega, Coach (Jake) Sueflohn, even my high school coaches — everybody’s poured so much into me. With them, I can really do anything in this sport. It’s just keeping that mindset and keeping it fun.

I think my recipe for success is just staying original. Wrestling’s one of the more grueling sports, so it’s super important to just have fun and be yourself. I think I just got into a good rhythm of putting in all the hard work I do and putting my own originality into it.

What is the future of Blaze Apparel?

Hopefully it just grows into a brand that anybody wants that you could go find in your Walmart or at your clothing brand stores.

I hope people just like my kind of style. The goal for it is to be a brand that people know and enjoy and can associate with me and my career, but it’s not really catered toward me. You’re not wearing it to represent that you’re a fan of me. You’re just wearing it because you like it. That’s the biggest thing, to me, with clothing is it’s not about who necessarily is pushing the clothing. It’s more about do you like the clothing? Is it good material? Is it worth your money? Learning things like that in school is pretty cool because I get to apply those skills in my company. I’m just looking forward to just keep growing it slowly and hopefully making it something that a lot of people are aware of and would like to wear.