10
Thursday, August 9th, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS
For the Michigan wrestling
team, there will be a stud at
heavyweight. A tall, built, blonde
wrestler who dominated in high
school and is looking to tear up
the competition in the Big Ten.
And he is studying to become an
engineer.
Sound familiar?
That’s
because
incoming
freshman
Mason
Parris
bears
striking
resemblance
in his wrestling trajectory to
Wolverine legend Adam Coon.
With Coon’s recent departure
from Ann Arbor, Parris seeks
to build his craft where Coon
perfected
his.
Parris,
who
finished his high school career
as the No. 1-ranked high school
heavyweight wrestler, looks to
continue Michigan’s dominance
at heavyweight and take the
torch from Coon.
While the two will not overlap
a year of eligibility for the
Wolverines, Parris and Coon will
still attempt to build a mutually
beneficial relationship on and off
the mat.
Their
relationship
began
in earnest when Coon was
preparing for the World Team
Trials. In order to help him
prepare for the best of the best,
Coon brought in all the help he
could in an attempt to make the
World Team. That meant Parris.
So during the week leading
up to the trials, Parris came up
to Ann Arbor where he helped
run a youth wrestling camp and
assist Coon in his preparation.
“We’d wrestle around a little
bit, and he would teach me like
his upper body, like throws,”
Parris said. “Then when we’d
live wrestle, I kinda just helped
him out by being a faster body
for him and kinda trying to get in
on his legs so he could fight out
of it.”
Whatever he did, it worked.
Coon would then go on to
triumph over Robby Smith to
land a spot on the Greco-Roman
World Team.
“Adam’s been a really good
mentor to me, and he has really
helped me out a lot,” Parris said.
“He’s told me like a lot about the
system, and he’s a really great
guy.”
Going forward, Parris hopes
to maintain his relationship
with Coon and use his expertise
on everything from on the
mat struggles to engineering
problems.
Parris also hopes to gain
assistance with his technique.
Throughout his high school
career, Parris relied on a unique
blend of awe-inducing strength
and
unrivaled
quickness
to
dominate his high school level
competition. After all, we’re
talking about a man who only
lost once in four years of high
school
wrestling,
capturing
three state titles and the respect
of the wrestling community.
Parris
enjoys
controlling
the pace of his matches, often
electing to push his opponents
to their limits in terms of tempo
and physicality. But in order to
bring that same intensity and
dominance to the next level,
every aspect of his game needs
to be immaculate.
“I
think
(the
Michigan
coaching
staff)
is
really,
definitely gonna help me a lot
with my technique because I still
have a lot of things to work on
because I did two other sports,
and I didn’t wrestle all year-
round,” Parris said, “So I think
they’re really gonna help me out
with my technique and help me
adjust a few things.”
Technique down or not, it
seems obvious that someone
with the affinity for wrestling
like Parris would easily make
the choice to wrestle at the next
level. However, that was not
always his first option. Due to
his raw athleticism, Parris was
all-state in three sports and was
strongly considering collegiate
football over wrestling.
In the end, Parris went with
his gut and cited two simple yet
rational reasons for choosing
the mat over the gridiron — the
individualism and success he
had found with wrestling.
“It was a really tough decision
for me, but I decided on wrestling
because I really saw myself being
a really good wrestler,” Parris
said, “And then I really liked how
it was an individual sport and
how what you put into the sport
is what you get out of it.”
However,
Parris’
football
journey may not end in Ann
Arbor. Many collegiate wrestlers
have taken their talents to
the NFL or even garnered
professional
interest.
Most
recently, certain NFL teams
have even expressed interest in
acquiring Coon as an offensive
lineman.
While he won’t be training
under
Michigan
coach
Jim
Harbaugh during his time with
the Wolverines, the path exists
for Parris to take football to the
next level.
But as he’s gotten older, Parris
has fully adopted every facet of
the wrestling world. From the
tight-knit community to the
brutal physical toll of the sport,
Parris has embraced it all and
doesn’t see himself burning out
anytime soon.
“Well, when I was younger
I wasn’t like a huge fan of
wrestling, but I did it still because
I liked it and I was pretty good at
it,” Parris said. “But when I got
older, like around middle school,
I really developed a love for
wrestling, and I think it was just
me winning tournaments and
stuff that made me really like it
and all the people I’d meet. I like
the challenge too.
“I don’t think I’ll ever burn out
of wrestling because I really love
it, but I think some challenges
are gonna be maintaining my
health.”
As Parris shifts from being a
part-time to full-time wrestler,
his mission is clear — maintain
the
level
of
dominance
he
exhibited
in
high
school.
Attaining the No. 1 ranking in
anything is never easy, but as
Parris explains it, that wasn’t the
difficult part.
“It just makes me drive more
because they say it’s harder to
stay on top than to actually get
there,” Parris said. “So, I really
worked a lot harder when I saw
that because I knew I had stuff
to prove to put me there.”
While the level of competition
will surely increase as Parris
heads for the Big Ten, the
greatest wrestling conference
in the country, the goal stays
the same. But with a mentor
like Coon and the physical tools
already at his disposal, it’ll be
hard to bet against this kid.
Meet the Wolverines’ new heavyweight: Mason Parris
JACOB KOPNICK
Summer Managing Sports Editor
COURTESY OF TWITTER, @PARRIS58
Incoming freshman heavyweight wrestler Mason Parris looks to make an immediate impact after a dominant high school career that saw him win three state titles