Mason Parris

Mason Parris 2023 NCAA Heavyweight Champion

Class:
Fifth Year
Position:
Hwt
Weight:
null
Hometown:
Lawrenceburg, Ind.
High School:
Lawrenceburg

At Michigan
• 2023 Dan Hodge Trophy recipient as college wrestling's most dominant wrestler
• NCAA heavyweight champion (2023)
• Four-time NCAA All-American (2020, '21, '22, '23); two-time NCAA finalist (2021, '23)
• Big Ten champion (heavyweight, 2023)
• Ranks 15th in wins in U-M program history with 124-18 career record, eighth in win percentage (.873) and third in career pns (45)
• Two-time Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational champion (2019, 22)
• Junior freestyle world champion (125kg, 2019); U.S. Open champion (125kg, 2020)
• Two-time NWCA Scholar All-American (2022, '23); two-time Academic All-Big Ten (2022, '23)

Fifth-Year Senior (2022-23)
• Academic All-Big Ten; Big Ten Distinguished Scholar; NWCA Scholar All-American
• 2023 Dan Hodge Trophy winner
• NCAA heavyweight champion
• Posted a perfect 5-0 record at the NCAA Championships (March 16-18); defeated Penn State's #2 Greg Kerkvliet, 5-1, in the championship match
• Outscored his NCAA opponents, 49-6, including a 16-1 technical fall over Iowa's #3 Tony Cassioppi in the semifinals and a 10-1 major decision vs. Northwestern's #9 Lucas Davison in the quarterfinals
• Posted a perfect 33-0 record with 21 bonus wins -- 11 pins, three technical falls and seven major decisions
• Earned 17 wins over nationally-ranked opponents; posted a combined 10-0 record over the 2023 NCAA heavyweights All-Americans
• Captured the heavyweight title at the Big Ten Championships (March 4-5) with a 3-0 record; beat #2 Greg Kerkvliet 5-3 in the championship bout
• Rallied in the third period to earn a 9-7 decision over Iowa's #3 Tony Cassioppi (Feb. 10); also defeated Wisconsin's #11 Trent Hillger (4-0, Jan. 15) and Indiana's #23 Jacob Bullock (18-4, Feb. 12) in Big Ten dual action
• Used a third-period takedown to edge Penn State's #1 Greg Kerkvliet, 3-1, in the road dual (Jan. 20) and avenge three losses to the Nittany Lion the previous season
• Captured the heavyweight title at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (Dec. 2-3) with a 5-0 record; beat Northwestern's #6 Lucas Davison, 6-4, in the final and Air Force's #8 Wyatt Hendrickson, 12-5, in the semis
• Went 5-0 with three pins and two major decisions en route to the Michigan State Open heavyweight title (Nov. 5); defeated Oklahoma's #18 Josh Heindselman, 12-1, in the final
• Served as one of four 2023-24 team captains

Senior (2021-22)
• Academic All-Big Ten; NWCA Scholar All-American
• NCAA All-American, Heavyweight
• Placed fifth at the NCAA Championships (March 17-19) with a 5-2 record
• Defeated Northwestern's #9 Lucas Davidson, 8-5, in the NCAA fifth-place match; also earned bonus wins over Ohio State's #13 Tate Orndorff (12-1) and Iowa's #3 Tony Cassioppi (12-4) in the wrestlebacks
• Took fourth placed at the Big Ten Championships (March 5-6) with a 3-2 record
• Went 7-2 in dual meets, including 5-2 in Big Ten duals
• Closed out the dual season with a 7-4 decision over Central Michigan's #8 Matt Stencel (Feb. 20)
• Earned ranked Big Ten dual wins over #12 Tate Orndorff (F 2:21, Jan. 14) and #12 Nebraska's Christian Lance (4-1, Feb. 4)
• Captured the heavyweight title at the Cleveland State Open (Dec. 11) with a 5-0 record; missed most of the first semester with injury
• Served as one of three Michigan team captains in 2021-22

Junior (2020-21)
• NCAA All-American, Heavyweight
• Took runner-up at the NCAA Championships (March 18-20) with a 4-1 record
• Fell to Minnesota's #1 Gable Steveson, 8-4, in the NCAA heavyweight final
• Pinned Iowa State's #6 Gannon Gremmel (4:02) in the NCAA semifinals and beat Rider's #7 Ethan Laird, 14-4, in the quarterfinals
• Runner-up at the Big Ten Championships (March 6-7) with a 2-1 mark; fell to Steveson, 12-4, in final
• Pinned Iowa's #3 Tony Cassioppi (0:58) in the Big Ten semifinals and defeated Penn State's #6 Greg Kerkvliet, 11-3, in the quarterfinals
• Posted a 12-2 record with 12 bonus wins -- six pins, two technical falls and four major decisions; went 6-0 in dual meets
• Earned back-to-back wins over Ohio State's #13 Tate Orndorff (20-5, Feb. 12) and Penn State's #7 Seth Nevills (12-2) in home duals at Crisler Center

Sophomore (2019-20)
• NWCA First Team All-American (Heavyweight)
• NCAA Qualifier; the NCAA Championships was canceled due to the global COVID-19 pandemic
• Runner-up at the Big Ten Championships (March 7-8) with a 2-1 record; fell to Minnesota's No. 1 Gable Steveson, 8-6, in the final
• Defeated Wisconsin's No. 6 Trent Hillger, 4-0, in the Big Ten semifinals
• Led the Wolverines with a 28-1 record and 11 falls; earned bonus points in 18 matches
• Pinned six of his nine Big Ten dual-meet opponents, including a second-period fall (4:31) against Iowa's No. 3 Tony Cassioppi (Feb. 8)
• Used a first-period takedown to edge Wisconsin's No. 5 Trent Hillger (Feb. 16)
• Clinched Michigan's win against Rutgers at Madison Square Garden with a first-period fall (1:17) against Alex Esposito in the final bout
• Captured the heavyweight title at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (Dec. 6-7) with a 5-0 record; defeated Arizona State's No. 6 Tanner Hall, 6-3, in the championship final
• Earned three wins over Central Michigan's No. 5/7 Matt Stencel over a four-week span -- 9-2, 4-0, 4-1 -- in the finals of the Michigan State Open (Nov. 2) and Black Knight Invite (Nov. 17) and the home dual meet (Nov. 24)
• Served as one of two Michigan team captains in 2019-20

Summer 2019
• Captured the 125kg/275-pound freestyle title at the Junior World Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, with a 4-0 record
• Pinned Iran's Amir Hossein Abbas Zare, a 2018 Cadet World champion and 2018 Youth Olympic Games silver medalist, at 1:20 in the gold-medal match
• Through four world championships matches, outscored his opposition, 36-3, and spent just 6:15 on the mat
• Rallied to defeat Wisconsin's Trent Hillger in the best-of-three final at the U.S. Junior World Team Trials, earning a 10-0 tech and fall (:39) after dropping the first bout

Freshman (2018-19)
• NCAA Qualifier, Heavyweight
• Led the Wolverines with 32 wins and 13 falls
• Posted a 3-2 record at the NCAA Championships (March 21-23), reaching the Round of 12 with two pins and a major decision
• Finished seventh at the Big Ten Championships (March 9-10) with a 3-2 record
• Posted a 6-2 record in Big Ten Duals, including wins over Ohio State's #19 Chase Singletary (6-3, Jan. 25) and Maryland's #9 Youssif Hemida (6-2, Feb. 15)
• Clinched Michigan's 19-17 dual win at #2 Ohio State with his win against Singletary in the final match
• Came out of redshirt and defeated Oregon State's #1 Amar Dhesi, 11-4, in varsity debut (Jan. 3)
• Took fifth place at the Midlands Championships (Dec. 29-30) with a 4-2 record; earned a 9-6 decision over Wisconsin's #8 Trent Hillger in the quarterfinals
• Captured the heavyweight title at the Michigan State Open (Nov. 3) with a 4-0 record; pinned Central Michigan's #15 Matt Stencel (0:14) in the final
• Also won at the Cleveland State Open (Dec. 15) with a 5-0 record and took third place at the Ohio Intercollegiate Open (Nov. 11) with a 4-1 mark
• Earned a 10-1 major decision over CMU's Nick Jenkins in collegiate debut at the MSU Open

Prep
• Graduated from Lawrenceburg High School (2018)
• Captured three Indiana state titles at 220 pounds (2016, '17, '18); four-time state placewinner, claiming third place at 182 pounds as a freshman (2015)
• Career prep record of 206-1, including a 152-0 mark over his last three seasons
• Set an Indiana state record with 11 career pins at the state finals
• Named the recipient of the 2018 IHSAA Mental Attitude Award
• Ranked as the No. 3 overall recruit by FloWrestling and No. 1-ranked 220-pound wrestler
• Two-time FloNationals champion (2017, '18)
• Participated in the 2018 Dream Team Classic
• Also earned four varsity letters in football and track and field
• Three-time First Team All-State as a linebacker (2015, '16, '17)
• Three-time TriState Football Indiana Defensive Player of the Year (2015, '16, '17)
• Three-time Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference 3A Defensive Most Valuable Player (2015, '16, '17)
• Contributed to Lawrenceburg's 3A state runner-up finish in 2016
• Two-time state qualifier in the shot put and 110m hurdles
• National Honor Society, Four-year Honor Roll

Personal
• Enrolled in the College of Engineering, majoring in civil engineering
• Born on October 1, 1999
• Son of Mark and Shay Parris
• Father played football at Ball State (1988-92)
• Has an older sister, Paxton

Year	Overall	Dual	Tourney	Falls	TF	MD	Big Ten	NCAA
2018-19	32-9	9-2	23-7	13	1	5	7th	dnp
2019-20	28-1	13-0	15-1	11	1	6	2nd	--
2020-21	12-2	6-0	6-2	6	2	4	2nd	2nd
2021-22	19-6	7-2	12-4	4	3	5	4th	5th
2022-23	33-0	15-0	18-0	11	3	7	1st	1st
Totals	124-18	50-4	74-14	45	10	27