Former M wrestler Mason Parris qualifies for Paris Olympics

Submitted by James Burrill Angell on April 20th, 2024 at 10:20 PM

Former Michigan wrestler Mason Parris just won the US Olympic Trials and will be heading to the Paris Olympics this summer. First Michigan student/alum I’ve heard of who qualified for this Olympics (feel free to tell me if I got that last static wrong and who else has qualified). 

Dennis

April 20th, 2024 at 10:29 PM ^

I wish that there was more social media marketing for the Olympics and other cultural events. I completely missed The Masters bc they all rely on TV network promotion but that's not where I get any information anymore. 

Good luck to Mason. Fairly confident he'll bring home some gold. 

NittanyFan

April 21st, 2024 at 12:53 AM ^

Parris definitely has a shot at Gold.

The US team as a whole (I'm assuming that Zain Retherford and Spencer Lee qualify --- they won the US Trials but still need to go through another tournament to qualify for the Olympics themselves): it's not impossible for the US team to go 6-for-6 on medals.  5 of the 6 Trials winners have won a medal at a World Championship in either 2022 or 2023.  The 6th is Spencer Lee and if he can stay healthy, he's a good bet to win Gold.

Aaron Brooks beating David Taylor is definitely a changing of the guard.  Coming into the Trials, 1 loss in 6 years and probably the best P4P Freestyle wrestler in the world.  But Brooks beat him twice in a row.

With Taylor --- he's gotta figure out his next step in life.  He's 33, keep competing at the elite World level, try to make another run at 2028?  Or open another chapter?  I doubt it happens, but there's a non-zero chance Iowa brings him in to replace Tom Brands.  That would be an 8.5-level seismic event in the NCAA wrestling world.

NittanyFan

April 21st, 2024 at 4:59 PM ^

Whole lot of silliness, IMO .......

Bo Nickal is a world-class wrestler, no doubt about that.  But he's also a clown half the time - HE is the one who actually started this nonsense.  

Burroughs' comments during the NCAA Championships about "targeting" Starocci's knee --- they weren't malicious at all.  Nobody even batted an eye.  Burroughs wasn't advocating someone take a freaking tire iron to his knee.  But Nickal took offense, then it becomes a kerfuffle, now Starocci is mad at Burroughs.  

With Nickal, honestly it just feels like he's auditioning for the WWE as his next career move, 5 years down the line (he's currently doing UFC).  He and Gable can be tag-team champions there!

jmblue

April 21st, 2024 at 7:27 PM ^

Is this the first case of an Olympic athlete having (basically) the same name as the host city?

I suppose there might have been an athlete named London in 2012 or the other two times they hosted.