Michigan's Mason Parris Wrestles for a National Title Tonight

Submitted by StirredNotShaken on March 18th, 2023 at 4:21 PM

Mason takes on Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) for the 285 lbs weight class title. Coverage starts at 7pm on ESPN. They are slotted to go in the sixth match of the evening so guessing he'll be on the mat between 8 to 8:30. 

Mason is 2-0 against Kerkvliet this season. Both were close wins but Mason looked like the better wrestler in both matches. Penn State guys always show well on the big stage on Saturday night though, so should be a good one. 

bronxblue

March 18th, 2023 at 9:14 PM ^

Congrats.  A national championship is always great, and that also tops off the women winning the conference crown in gymnastics.

Also, it's sort of crazy how good the Big 10 is at wrestling - feels like half the Big 10 is in the top 15 nationally for wrestling every year.

StirredNotShaken

March 18th, 2023 at 9:46 PM ^

As a bonus, Mason likely wins the Hodge Trophy (equivalent of the Heisman for wrestling). With Spencer and RBY both losing there isn't really another guy who's season resume compares to Mason. Would be a great capstone to Mason's career. 

Next move is to make the world team this summer and pursue Olympic gold next year. Fwiw, the guy who is #1 in the world at heavyweight (from Iran) was pinned by Mason in the junior world championship finals a few years ago. So Mason can compete at that level. 

XM - Mt 1822

March 18th, 2023 at 9:53 PM ^

a.) awesome. congrats

b.)  can we get a football coach over there to whisper in his ear?  think of the chaos a guy like that could cause with even a tiny bit of coaching. 

907_UM Nanook

March 18th, 2023 at 10:22 PM ^

I remember Mason had that junior Olympic win. And he was ranked 1 or 2 with that beast from Minny, Gable Stevenson. But Gable just peaked to another level the past couple years. So major congrats for Mason coming back for the final year and threepeating the clear #2 in a tough Kerkvliet. 

core42

March 18th, 2023 at 11:52 PM ^

What an amazing performance, it never felt in doubt once he fought off that early attack & got the takedown himself.  After that it was all business & he is one of the few wrestlers that didn't sound winded in his post match interview