BUDAPEST, Hungary — The Cliff Keen Wrestling Club’s Mason Parris captured the 125kg freestyle title at the Polyak Imre & Varga Janos Memorial, the UWW’s second Ranking Series event, held June 6-9 at BOK Sport Hall. It was Parris’ second straight gold medal at the Budapest Ranking Series.
Parris went 3-0 in a field that featured seven Paris Olympians at 125kg and another at 97kg. He pinned Kazakhstan’s Yusup Batirmurzaev just 34 seconds into the gold-medal final when Batirmurzaev went for a chest lock early and Parris put him on his back for four points then settled in for the quick fall. Batirmurzaev, an Asian 125kg champion set become a two-time Olympian, himself pinned Georgia’s three-time world champion and two-time Olympic medalist Geno Petriashvili in the semifinals.
Parris also defeated Georgia’s Givi Matcharashvili, 9-2, in the quarterfinals with a takedown and a crotch lift in each period and rolled to a 10-0 tech against Puerto Rico’s Jonovan Smith in the semifinals. Parris earned exposure off an early Smith throw attempt in the semis, added a gut wrench, then scored on a go-behind takedown and two guts to end the bout in just :52. Matcharashvili is a two-time world medalist at 97kg and currently ranked No. 5 in the world at the weight class.