Mason Parris Versus the Field
Gable Steveson was a generational talent at heavyweight for the U.S., and he backed that up with a gold medal at the delayed 2020 Olympic Games. He has since moved on to the predetermined style of wrestling. However, the cupboard is far from bare on the domestic heavyweight ladder. After Steveson pulled out of the last World Championships, former NCAA champion Mason Parris stepped into the role, brought home a bronze medal and qualified heavyweight for the upcoming Games.
This weekend, he will look to earn his first trip to the Olympics. Thanks to his bronze medal, he will be sitting in the best-of-three finals, but there is plenty of quality opposition gunning for the spot. Interestingly enough, Parris has already faced off against every single other wrestler in the bracket. The following looks at that history and how these opponents will challenge Parris at the Trials.
Hayden Zillmer
The former North Dakota State wrestler enters the challenge tournament as the top seed. He does not have an extensive history with Parris, but the two did face off in the semifinals of the 2021 World Team Trials. On that day, Parris picked up an 8-4 victory and advanced to the best-of-three series against Nick Gwiazdowski. Zillmer has been on an upward trajectory since that loss, as he made the 2022 World Team and recently won the Henri DeGlane tournament in January.
Nick Gwiazdowski
One of the early signs that Parris was going to be a player on the international scene was an upset victory over Gwiazdowski at the 2020 RTC Cup. The event took place in December 2020, while the college wrestling season was shut down. The two met first in the group stage of the freestyle dual event, and Gwiazdowski took an 18-8 match-termination victory. However, the two then rematched in the semifinals. This time, Parris edged out a 10-7 victory, which was one of his most impressive to date.
Gwiazdowski then got some revenge as he swept Parris in a best-of-three series in the finals of the 2022 World Team Trials. Neither match was particularly close as the former NC State wrestler won 6-0 and 10-3. However, Parris won their most recent bout in the finals of the 2023 World Team Trials challenge tournament by a 6-2 score.
Greg Kerkvliet
The reigning NCAA champion is one of several Nittany Lions scattered across the Trials. He has an extensive history with Parris as the two faced off seven times on the college mats and wrestled in the quarterfinals of the last Olympic Trials.
Their collegiate series began at the 2021 Big Ten tournament. Parris was absolutely dominant in the match and walked away with an 11-3 major decision victory. The following season, it appears as if Kerkvliet jumped levels, as Penn State wrestlers often do, and defeated Parris three times including at the Big Ten tournament and the NCAA tournament. However, Parris turned things around as a senior in 2023. In that season, he defeated Kerkvliet three-straight times including a 5-1 victory in the NCAA title match.
As previously stated, their only freestyle match came at the 2020 Olympic Trials. It was a close contest, but Kerkvliet ended up advancing with a 4-4 criteria victory. This victory and Kerkvliet’s continued development makes him one of the most interesting challengers for Parris.
Dominique Bradley
When Bradley’s career eventually ends, it will be interesting to see how many wrestlers he actually faced off against during his senior-level career. Bradley exhausted his collegiate eligibility for Missouri all the way back in 2013, but he has continued to be a fixture on the domestic heavyweight scene. Despite being several years older than Parris, the two have actually wrestled before.
Their match came at the 2020 Olympic Trials. Both wrestlers had already fallen into the consolation bracket. Parris had lost against Kerkvliet, while Bradley had lost to Gwiazdowski. Youth prevailed in this contest as Parris scored a 7-3 victory and went on to finish third.
Wyatt Hendrickson
Hendrickson recently finished his fourth year wrestling for the Air Force Academy. He finished third as a senior to become a two-time All-American and cement himself as one of the best academy wrestlers in recent memory. His only college match against Parris came at the 2022 Cliff Keen Invitational. The Michigan wrestler was able to control the contest and walk away with a one-side 12-5 decision.
Their freestyle history is much more interesting. Their first meeting came in the third-place bout of the 2023 U.S. Open, and both wrestlers were able to put points on the board. In the end, Parris’ offense was too much, and he finished the contest in the second period via match termination (20-7). One month later, the two rematched in the semifinals of the World Team Trials. Once again, the heavyweights ran up the score. However, this time, the final result was much closer.
Parris scored the first six points of the match, but then Hendrickson roared back to take a 10-6 lead. Parris came all the way back to take an 11-10 lead. Hendrickson then tied it up 11-11, but Parris held the criteria lead. With four seconds left on the clock, the Air Force wrestler appeared to drive Parris out for the one-point victory. Unfortunately for him, time had expired, and Parris escaped with a 12-11 lead after a failed challenge.
Christian Lance
During Lance’s time at Nebraska, he faced off against Parris twice and managed to score only two points. At the 2019 Cliff Keen, Parris had a 6-1 decision victory. The rematch came in a dual during the 2022 season, and Parris won a 4-1 decision. Interestingly enough, Lance was more successful in their only freestyle match. The two faced off in the round of 16 of the 2020 Senior Nationals. While Parris was still able to win by a 9-4 score, Lance was able to get to his offense.
Gary Traub
Traub started his career at Ohio State as a backup, but he eventually worked his way into the lineup and qualified for the 2020 NCAA tournament. For his final season, he transferred to Oregon State and saw his career come to an end in the bloodround. His lone match against Parris came under freestyle rules. At the 2023 U.S. Open, Parris was able to jump on Traub early and score a 10-0 less than two minutes into the contest.
Demetrius Thomas
Thomas has some experience against Parris, but unfortunately for him, the results have been less than positive. During his time at Pittsburgh, he wrestled Parris twice. Their first contest came at the 2019 NCAA tournament, and Parris scored a fall inside the first two minutes. The following November, they wrestled again at the Michigan State Open, and Parris scored a 14-3 major decision. In freestyle, Parris was perhaps even more dominant. He scored a fall over Thomas at the 2023 U.S. Open in only 48 seconds, and he was already leading 8-0 at the time of the fall.
Trent Hillger
Of all the wrestlers in this bracket, Hillger has the most experience against Parris. His success against the world bronze medalist has been limited, but he does have a victory. While Hillger was at Wisconsin, he wrestled Parris five times and dropped all five matches via decision. They have also faced off four times in freestyle, and it has been boom-or-bust for Parris. In the four-match series, Parris has won by fall twice and picked up a shutout match termination victory.
However, in the finals of the 2019 Junior World Team Trials, Hillger was able to score a 7-6 decision victory. It was the first match of a best-of-three series and while Parris was able to win the next two matches, it shows that Hillger can get it done. With the match even at five and under a minute left on the clock, Parris got in deep on a double. Hillger was able to score two on a chest wrap before surrendering the reversal. That was enough to escape with the 7-6 score. Parris has become more polished in freestyle, and he has dominated the series since. However, stranger things have happened in wrestling.
Jaron Smith
Smith started his college career at Maryland in 2015 as an 184-pounder, and after a variety of injuries, he finished up as a heavyweight in 2023. He was never able to make the All-American podium, but he qualified for the 2022 and 2023 NCAA tournaments. Despite being out of the game, he entered the Last Chance qualifier and surprisingly won it with wins over Colin Pedersen, Nathan Taylor, Jordan Wood, and Jacob Bullock.
His only match against Parris came in a dual during the 2023 season. Parris won via a 17-0 technical fall. Smith did have some success riding from the top for a stretch of the match, but that is unlikely to help him in a freestyle context.
