Mason Parris clinches heavyweight title, three Michigan wrestlers earn All-American honors at NCAA tournament

After three tough days of competition at the NCAA Wrestling Tournament, one Michigan wrestler remained in the finals — No. 1 heavyweight and fifth-year senior Mason Parris. And after his last seven minutes of wrestling as a Wolverine in which he overpowered No. 3 Greg Kerkvliet of Penn State throughout the entire bout, Parris stood atop the podium. 

His lifelong goal of becoming a National Champion was achieved in the last match of his collegiate career. 

Parris was the runner-up in the 2021 NCAA championships his junior year, losing to the Nittany Lions’ Gable Steveson, who went on to win an Olympic gold medal later that summer. Parris would fall to Steveson in the Big Ten Championship final in 2020 and 2021, taking home All-American honors both years. But this season, Parris refused to come up short. 

Following a perfect 33-0 regular season, Parris didn’t slow down and dominated his opponents at every stage of the tournament. In the first four rounds of the tournament, he won two bouts via major decision and beat Iowa’s No. 4 Tony Cassiopi with a 16-1 technical fall in the semifinal. Preparing for the second national championship bout of his career, Parris rode the momentum he had built up in the previous rounds and remained poised.

“I wasn’t really nervous at all,” Parris told The Daily. “I was very confident in myself and felt really good and believed in my abilities.”

In the final bout, Parris’s confidence was on full display. Going up against a familiar foe in Penn State’s No. 3 Greg Kerkvliet, whom Parris defeated for the Big Ten title just two weeks prior, Parris was in full control the entire seven minutes. Thirty seconds into the match, Parris defended a leg attack from Kerkvliet and scored a takedown on a fireman’s dump before riding Kerkvliet out in the period and garnering 2:30 of riding time. Parris started on the bottom in the second period, earning an escape point – and Kerkvliet only scored on a stalling call near the end of the third period. But by then, the match was over. 

“That stalling call didn’t really faze him,” Michigan coach Sean Bormet told The Daily. “Mason has had great composure and great mat and match awareness all season, which I think really shined at the NCAA championships. He was one of the most dominant competitors of all weight classes.”

Parris came back with a vengeance after missing half of last season with a herniated disk and finishing sixth at the 2022 NCAA tournament. This year, he put in extra time in the weight room to rebuild his strength. Parris looked for redemption against those he lost to last year, including Kerkvliet who defeated him three times. 

“I wasn’t at my full potential last year,” Parris told reporters after his win. “This year I wanted to come out and show I was the best. I really had something to prove and I wanted to get revenge on all those guys that I could.”

And finally, in the last match of his collegiate career, Parris got the revenge he coveted.

As a team however, the Wolverines placed sixth with eight wrestlers competing and three being named All-Americans. Ninth-ranked fifth-year senior Will Lewan placed seventh at 157 pounds after falling to No. 7 Bryce Andonian from Virginia Tech, earning All-American honors. 

No. 11 165-pound senior/junior Cameron Amine finished fourth after winning his way through the consolation bracket —  even beating the 2021 champion No. 9 Shane Griffith from Stanford to earn an All-American recognition.

“I’m super proud of our guys,” Bormet said. “I thought they put a tremendous effort on the mat. All eight guys that we had competing at the NCAA championships scored points and were in the round of 16. They competed with a tremendous amount of heart and really represented Michigan wrestling well.” 

Michigan will graduate key wrestlers this year, but Parris isn’t going far. He will remain in Ann Arbor to train for the Olympic trials in five weeks as a member of the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club, with a goal to make the US World team. 

And in a familiar setting with the same coaching staff, Parris will hope to take the first step to add an Olympic medal to his trophy case –  alongside his newly garnered NCAA plaque.