Michigan’s Mason Parris Named 2023 Hodge Trophy Winner
The NCAA has chosen it’s Hodge Trophy winner for 2023 and the winner is Mason Parris out of Michigan. The heavyweight went a perfect 33-0 with an NCAA championship this year to propel his Michigan Wolverines to a seventh-place finish.
Hodge Trophy History and Mason Parris
For the uninitiated, the Hodge trophy in wrestling is the same as the Heisman trophy in collegiate football. It’s the highest honor given to standouts in the sport. Past Hodge winners include Gable Steveson, Bo Nickal, Jordan Burroughs, Ben Askren, and Cael Sanderson.
As mentioned, Mason Parris had a perfect season going 33-0. The heavyweight notch wins over Lucas Davison of Northwestern, Owen Trephan of NC State, Greg Kerkvliet of Penn State, and Anthony Cassioppi of Iowa during the year.
Parris won the Big Ten Championships by winning matches over Jacob Bullock of Indiana, Trent Hillger of Wisconsion, and the aforementioned Kerkvliet.
Going into the NCAA Championships, it was full steam ahead for Mason Parris. In the first round he took on Garrett Joles of Minnesota winning a major decision 12-2. He then beat Taye Ghadiali of Campbell 6-1 and Davison from Northwestern 10-1. He took on the fourth ranked Anthony Cassioppi in the semis and teched him 16-1. The last match was against Penn State’s Greg Kerkvliet. There, Parris took a 5-1 decision and avenged his loss to Greg Kerkvliet in 2022. That year he finished fifth.
As a senior, Mason Parris will look to go to freestyle now and compete for a spot-on Team USA for the 2024 Olympics next year. But making the team is going to be a completely different animal. With Gable Steveson leaving the Olympic team after winning gold last year for professional wrestling, Parris will have names like Nick Gwiazdowski to compete with. Parris came in third at the 2020 US Olympic Team Trials behind Gwiazdowski and Steveson.
At 125, he lost to his perpetual rival Greg Kerkvliet before Kerkvliet was blasted by Steveson. Only time will tell how the Olympic Trials go down. With 2024 rapidly approaching, we will find out sooner rather than later.
