Mason Parris selected as USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week

Mason Parris (Lawrenceburg, Ind./Cliff Keen WC) has been selected as TheMat.com Athlete of the Week on Aug. 20, 2019.

Last week, Parris made his World Championships debut at any level, competing at the 2019 Junior World Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, where he won a gold medal at 125 kg.

Parris, a University of Michigan, was dominant throughout the tournament, scoring three technical falls and a pin.

In his first bout, Parris defeated 2019 Junior European bronze medalist Vasil Khvistani of Georgia, 10-0. The American followed it up with another 10-0 tech fall over Gan Erdene Sodbileg from Mongolia.

In the semifinals, Parris blew past Turkey’s Pasa Ekrem Karabulut with a 13-2 performance.

Awaiting him in the finals was 2018 Cadet World champion and Youth Olympic Games silver medalist Amir Hossein Abbas Zare from Iran.

Navigating Zare’s tough underhook, Parris threw the Iranian to his back and secured the fall in 1:19 to pick up a Junior World title.

Each week USA Wrestling will select an Athlete of the Week based upon performance within wrestling for that week. The selection committee will consider any level of wrestling from youth programs through the senior level. Twitter fan votes also play a part in decision.

To nominate a wrestler for this honor please send the athlete's name, wrestling program, weekly accomplishments and career accolades to USA Wrestling Communications Coordinator Taylor Miller at tmiller@usawrestling.org.