2023 NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP

March 18, 2023

Mason Parris

BOK Center

Finals Media Conference

285 pounds

Q. Mason Parris, Michigan national champion. Initial emotions, feelings on being a national champion?

MASON PARRIS: It's a mix of a lot of emotions right now. I'm still trying to process it all. My adrenaline is still really high. There's just so much going through my mind right now.

And "grateful" is the main thing that comes to my mind. And just blessed that I have the coaches and the partners and the school -- everything, the support system that's behind me. And I couldn't have done it without them.

Q. After you got the initial pin down (indiscernible) the entire first period. What did you think when he chose bottom to start the third period?

MASON PARRIS: My mindset was I gotta ride him out. I know I can. That was an adjustment I made from the match, our first match and then Big Tens, is I can ride this guy, I can ride him out, I can break him on top.

That's what I did. Just focused on getting that ride down and breaking him down and just breaking his spirit was the main thing. And I knew that I could do that. That's why I focused so much on getting better on top.

Q. Heading into this year you were 1-3 against Greg. Now you're 4-3, and a win in a national championship. What's that mean to you?

MASON PARRIS: It means so much. Just kind of shows the progress I've made throughout this last season and how much better I've actually gotten. I wasn't my full potential last year. And this year I was. I wanted to come out and show that I was the best. And I really had something to prove. And I was wanting to get revenge on all those guys that I could.

Q. (Indiscernible) talk about heavyweight being maybe the best time ever in history. Do you feel sort of like the king of the mountain at all?

MASON PARRIS: Yeah, it's absolutely great to win this title. This new era of heavyweight wrestling is a lot more fun to watch. And I like being one of those guys on the front of that new era of the athletic heavyweight. It's great to hopefully inspire some of these kids to go out there and take some shots and be offensive.

Q. You and Greg are all in the WWE Next in Line series (inaudible). You're going to see each other in a different profession. What's that mean to you and how are you going to adapt to that?

MASON PARRIS: It's going to be really cool. I don't know exactly what I'm going to do yet with everything. I have a lot of plans in the future. And my plan right now is 2024 Olympics. Parris in Paris, that's the goal. And maybe you'll see me in the maize and blue pads still.

Q. Looking back on this season to where you are now, did you envision this being a reality and just the moment? And what would you say about your training, training partners how this has all come together in this great moment for you?

MASON PARRIS: I've thought about this every day and I visualized myself winning that national championship so many times. And it feels so great to actually get it done. And the drill partners I have, the coaches, I get to drill with some of the best drill partners in the entire world.

And with J'den Cox and wrestling with that guy every day makes me so much better. We feed off each other's energy. And having these amazing coaches that have experiences on all levels is amazing, too. Them giving me their expertise and it's just -- it's amazing what we've got going in Michigan and so many positives there.