Mason And His Path To Olympic Wrestling Gold: Here's a Breakdown
Mason And His Path To Olympic Wrestling Gold: Here's a Breakdown
A breakdown of the draw for Team USA wrestler Mason Parris at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Mason Parris will wrestle in the 125 kg weight class at the Paris Olympics. Parris will start his tournament on Friday, August 9 with the opening rounds starting at 5:00 am (ET). Check out the below article for a full breakdown of Mason Parris’ draw in the 125 kg Olympic bracket.
Round 1 - Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur, MGL
Munkhtur is a a two-time world medalist winning silver in 2022 and bronze in 2021. This is a really tough first-round match for Parris considering Munkhtur’s past results and style of wrestling. He has past wins over Amirreza Masoumi, Geno Petriashvili, Zhwei Deng, Greg Kerkvliet, and several other top-ranked guys at 125 kg. Munkhtur has strong defense and doesn’t usually give up a ton of points. Parris has been wrestling great lately but this is one of the toughest first-round draws.
Munkhtur’s win over Petriashvili from 2022 Worlds:
Quarterfinals - Meshvildishvili, AZE/Abdelmottaleb, EGY
Parris will likely wrestle Meshvildishvili in his quarterfinal bout and the two met earlier this year at the 2024 Zagreb Open in January. In that match, Parris won a 5-2 where Meshvildishvili held a 1-0 lead at the break a shot clock point and a takedown to hold a 3-2 lead early in the second. The score remained tied at 3-2 until about 15 seconds left in the match when Meshvildishvili went for a throw but Parris countered for the match-clinching takedown. Meshvildishvili frustrated Parris in that match with great leg defense and is one of the few heavyweights who has the athleticism to wrestle with Parris.
Parris’ win over Meshvildishvili:
Semifinals - Baran, POL / Batirmurzaev, KAZ / Khotsianivskyi, UKR / Petriashvili, GEO
All four of these opponents are tough but Parris is most likely to wrestle either Geno Petriashvili or Yusup Batirmurzaev in the semifinals. These two wrestled this past June where Batirmurzaev pulled off the upset pinning Petriashvili in the first period. Then, after that match in the same tournament, Mason Parris pinned Batirmurzaev in the first period. On top of that, Parris also teched Batirmurzaev at the 2023 World Championships.
Petriashvili is far more credentialed than Batirmurzaev and despite the loss, Petriashvili should be a big favorite if they meet again in Paris. In fact, Petriashvili teched Batirmurzaev at a Rankings Tournament in 2022. If Petriashvili does make it to the finals against Paris, this would be a rematch of the 2023 World Finals where Petriahsvili won a back-and-forth 8-6 match. Parris would love to get revenge in Paris and if they meet in the semis, it should be an outstanding match.
Parris’ win over Batirmurazev:
Batirmurzaev’s win over Petriashvili:
Petriashvili’s win over Parris from 2023 Worlds:
Potential Finals Matchups
3-time world and Olympic champion Taha Akgul and 2-time world champion and Olympic bronze Amir Zare are the two, clear favorites to reach the finals opposite of Mason Parris. Zare is the reigning world champion and defeated both Taha Akgul and Geno Petriashvili last year. Zare has been incredibly dominant and consistent over the past 4 years bringing home medals at every World Championships and Olympics he’s wrestled in. Akgul is a heavyweight legend and the last wrestler to defeat Zare. The two should meet in the opposite semifinal and the winner of that match should be considered the favorite to win Olympic gold.
Mason Parris has never wrestled Taha Akgul but Parris defeated Amir Zare with a first-period pin in the final of the 2019 Junior World Championships. Obviously, a lot of time has passed since that match but a rematch with Zare is one of the most highly anticipated bouts of the Olympics.
Parris' win over Zare at 2019 Junior Worlds:
