La Salle's Lucas Byrd, Lawrenceburg's Mason Parris ranked as NCAA top 10 wrestlers
As the new InterMat NCAA Division I rankings dropped, a pair of former Cincinnati high school wrestling state champions again snagged top 10 national rankings.
Michigan heavyweight and Lawrenceburg graduate Mason Parris held on to his top national ranking while Illinois wrestler and La Salle graduate Lucas Byrd was No. 10 in the 133-pound weight class.
Parris has been the nation's top-ranked Division I heavyweight since beating the previous No. 1 in a dual meet between Michigan and Penn State on Jan. 20.
The three-time Indiana state champion improved to a 22-0 record this season with a 5-3 decision against Oklahoma State's No. 23 ranked Konner Doucet on Feb. 3. It was Parris' seventh win over a ranked opponent in the current campaign.
Byrd, who was the first La Salle wrestler to win multiple state championships in his high school career, is a two-time All-American for Illinois and has placed fifth in the last two NCAA national tournaments.
Byrd this season is 22-3 and currently has an 11-match winning streak, most recently a 6-1 decision against No. 17 Rayvon Foley from Michigan State on Feb. 5.
Illinois finished up its conference dual meet schedule with Michigan State but visits No. 3 Iowa State on Sunday, Feb. 12. Iowa State sophomore Zach Redding went from unranked to the No. 21 wrestler at 133 pounds in the InterMat rankings.
On Friday, Feb. 10, Michigan travels to No. 2 Iowa where Parris should see No. 3 heavyweight Tony Cassioppi. Parris is 3-0 against Cassioppi with two pins and an 11-5 decision in last season's national tournament.
The Big Ten championship tournament will be hosted by Michigan on March 4 and March 5, giving way to the NCAA tournament from March 16-18 in Tulsa, Okla.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: La Salle's Byrd, Lawrenceburg's Parris ranked as NCAA top 10 wrestlers
