Mason Parris walks from the mat after winning the Polyak Imre and Varga Janos Memorial in Budapest, Hungary.
Mason Parris named USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week presented by U.S. Air Force Special Warfare
by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling
Mason Parris (Lawrenceburg, Ind./Cliff Keen WC/Titan Mercury WC) has been named the USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week, presented by U.S. Air Force Special Warfare, on June 10, 2024.
The 2024 U.S. Olympic Team member cleaned house at the UWW Ranking Series: Polyak Imre and Varga Janos Memorial in Budapest, Hungary, his tune-up event prior to the Paris Olympics. Parris earned the gold medal in men’s freestyle at 125 kg with a 3-0 record against top international competition, the bulk of which will compete in the upcoming Olympics.
Parris began his run with a significant test on paper in the form of Georgia’s Givi Matcharashvili, who owns back-to-back bronze medals from the World Championships and is the two-time reigning European champion at 97 kg. He passed with an impressive ease, 9-2.
The momentum continued for Parris with a 10-0 technical fall over Puerto Rico’s Jonovan Smith in a rematch of the Pan American gold medal match also won by Parris.
Parris wasted no time in the finals against Tokyo Olympian and U23 World bronze medalist Yusup Batirmurzaev of Kazakhstan. He picked up a 34-second pin over Batirmurzaev to punctuate his performance. The win is Parris’ second over Batirmurzaev in the past year. He put up an 11-0 technical fall over Batirmurzaev at the 2023 World Championships on his way to the bronze medal, his first Senior-level World medal.
Like Parris, Matcharashvili, Smith and Batirmurzaev are pegged to represent their nations at the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris, France. It should be noted Matcharashvili will slot in at 97 kg for Georgia with two-time Olympic medalist Geno Petriashvili holding the 125 kg spot. Petriashvili did compete in the 125 kg bracket in Budapest and was surprisingly pinned by Batirmurzaev in the semifinals.
Since his remarkable performance in Belgrade, Serbia, last September, Parris has picked up four international medals. In addition to his title in Budapest, he earned gold at the Pan American Games and Pan American Championships, plus a bronze at the Zagreb Open.
Parris qualified to compete for Team USA at the upcoming Olympic Games by winning the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in late April. He is among the favorites to earn the gold medal in Paris at 125 kg.
Parris was a U20 World champion in 2019 for Team USA and was a two-time NCAA champion and Dan Hodge Trophy winner for the University of Michigan.
To nominate a wrestler for this honor please email the athlete's name, wrestling program, weekly accomplishments, and career accolades to communications@usawrestling.org.
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