The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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AUGUST 2023 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 29 2022-23 YEAR IN REVIEW that I had to beat," Parris noted. "I put in all that hard work, and I had great coaches that led me in the right direc- tion. They helped me study film and figure out the things to do. "The main thing for me was just building my confidence that I could beat anyone in the country and that I was the best. "I had no doubt at all that I was going to win the whole thing. I'd beaten him in previous weeks. I went out there and wrestled the way I'm capable of wres- tling. I handled business and knew it was my time." Parris handled business in multifac- eted fashion at Michigan. He not only dominated on the wrestling mat — third in U-M history with 45 pins, 15th with 124 wins, and eighth in win percent- age (124-18, .873) — he conquered the classwork as a two-time NWCA Scholar All-American and two-time Academic All-Big Ten performer (2022, 2023). He's already tucked a degree in civil engineering into his pocket, with a mas- ter's at Michigan yet to come. The latter is on hold for now, but not because of a lack of scholarly drive. "My parents always raised me right," the Lawrenceburg, Ind., native noted. "Being a champion, you've got to give 100 percent in everything. You can't half-do anything. You've got to give it your all in everything you do. "I took a lot of pride in doing well in school. That really carried over into my wrestling, and doing well in wrestling carries over into pushing me to doing well in school. "I've always said I will pursue an en- gineering career once my body gives out and says it's done with sports. I got accepted into another Michigan pro- gram, the construction engineering and management program. They allowed me to defer that fo r a yea r, to just train for the O ly m p i c s. I 'm going to come back and finish out my master's program. I want to do something in construction engineer- ing." In the meantime, the push for Parris in Paris 2024 moves forward. "I'm still trying to decide exactly what I want to do," he acknowledged. "I'm continuing to wrestle for a little bit longer, at least until this next Olym- pic cycle. I'm trying to make the 2024 Olympic team in Paris, then I'm go- ing to decide if I want to come back to wrestling, and continue to chase world championships, maybe even do another Olympic cycle. I have other options, too." Those aren't limited to engineering, either. Parris engineered an NIL deal with the WWE while in school, and they want him to try out eventually. Mean- while NFL teams have contacted him. "I've always had a strong love for football," Parris said. "I was planning on playing college football, all the way up until about my junior year in high school. I decided I wanted to try the wrestling route. "I was a multiple-time all-state foot- ball player. Wrestling translates well into football. I've had some NFL tea m s c o n ta c t me. They said, 'When you hang up the wrestling shoes, give us a call and we'll try this thing out.'" And yes, Harbaugh planted the seed at one point. "I was one of the honorary captains at the spring game this year, and he told me, 'If you ever get the football bug, we've got a spot for you.' That was pretty cool," Parris mused. So proved the end of Parris' Michigan wrestling journey — an unforgettable finish. "It ended the perfect way for me," he said. "That was my whole thing, going into this season. I just wanted to go in, leave no regrets and no stone unturned. Just do everything I could in my ability to win the championship." ❏ Rounding Out The Top Five NCAA heavyweight champion Mason Parris stood above all in 2022-23, but other stars shone brightly in Michigan's athletic galaxy. Here are the four runners-up, in order, for The Wolverine's Michigan Male Athlete of the Year. 1. Adam Fantilli, hockey — The freshman out of Nobleton, Ontario, won the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, earned first-team All-America honors, and nearly every other hockey distinction as a rookie. He led the nation in scoring with 65 points (30 goals and 35 assists) in 36 games, finished a plus-31 on the ice and registered 1.81 points per game, third in the nation. The Columbus Blue Jackets picked Fantilli with the third overall selection in the 2023 NHL Draft. 2. Blake Corum, football — Corum earned unanimous first-team All-America status in 2022, be- coming a Doak Walker Award finalist, the Chicago Tribune Silver Football winner and Michigan's first Ameche-Dayne Big Ten Running Back of the Year, despite a late-season injury against Illinois that cur- tailed his finish. The junior from Marshall, Va., still piled up 1,463 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns. 3. Andrew Fenty, tennis — Fenty battled his way to become the winningest player in Michigan men's tennis history. The fifth-year senior from Washington, D.C., wound up 228-76 as a Wolverine, making the NCAA quarterfinals in both singles and doubles in his final season. He earned first-team All-Big Ten honors four times, and twice earned All-America plaudits in both singles and doubles in the same year. 4. Fred Richard, gymnastics — Richard exploded onto the men's gymnastics scene as a U-M fresh- man, becoming the NCAA all-around champion, while taking national championships in the high bar and parallel bars, along with finishing runner-up in floor exercise. The rookie from Stoughton, Mass., became a first-team All-American in all four of those events, after earning Big Ten Gymnast of the Championships, first-team All-Big Ten and Freshman of the Year honors. — John Borton ❱ Parris "My wrestling career at Michigan couldn't have ended any better." Parris, a fifth-year senior heavyweight, posted a 33-0 record in his final campaign as a Wolverine, making an unblemished run to the national championship and winning the 2023 Dan Hodge Trophy as the best college wrestler in the country. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY