Mason Parris sure knows how to make a varsity debut. The blue-chip true freshman from Indiana had his redshirt pulled for Michigan's dual meet at Oregon State Thursday evening, and he proceeded to have as auspicious a start as one could. Parris put on a display, handling No. 1-ranked Amar Dhesi, the highest returning NCAA heavyweight place-winner, in a 11-4 decision. 

Full highlights from last night's Parris/Dhesi heavyweight bout. #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/aqtMr2etir

— Michigan Wrestling (@umichwrestling) January 4, 2019

Dhesi was wrestling in his first match of the season, having sat out the first semester of his final year of eligibility to focus on competing internationally for Canada's senior freestyle team. However, Parris suffered a few defeats so far this season while on redshirt, so the outcome of this match was still an upset and surprise to many. 

Parris lost to Northwestern's unranked Conan Jennings and was pinned by Central Michigan's #18 Matt Stencel at the 56th Midlands just a week ago. Parris was also beaten 15-9 by Ohio State's #17 Chase Singletary back in the first weekend of the season at the Michigan State Open.

Still, there were plenty of signs for Michigan head coach Sean Bormet that Parris was ready to compete at this level. Parris pinned the aforementioned Stencel at the aforementioned Michigan State Open. Additionally, at the Midlands, Parris handed Wisconsin's #9 Trent Hillger his first loss of the season by the score of 9-6.  

Also perhaps influencing coach Bormet's decision were the struggles Michigan was having at heavyweight in the first half of the season. The Wolverines were a combined 4-11 in all matches at 285 not including Parris' matches. 

Parris' inconsistencies this season are also not uncommon for young upperweights, and Parris' ceiling and potential remain sky-high. Having a guy like Adam Coon training with the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club, the USAW Regional Training Center that uses the same facilities at the Wolverine program, doesn't hurt with regards to Mason's development either. 

Which is all to say that it is safe to assume that Parris will enter the top 20 when new rankings are released, it's just a matter of where. We'll shelve that debate for now and focus on the fact that Parris will be the Wolverines' seventh top 20 wrestler and seventh All-American contender when March rolls around. 

With Jelani Embree and Jackson Striggow on the top 20 bubble of 184 and 197 respectively, that would appear to only leave 157 as a hole in the lineup. Which leads us to wonder if Coach Bormet is thinking about pulling the trigger on Will Lewan's redshirt, another blue-chip true freshman on the roster. 

Illinois native and Montini Catholic grad Will Lewan has also had an auspicious start to his career. His biggest win came against his teammate, two-time All-American Alec Pantaleo, at the Michigan State Open. With Pantaleo moving back down to 149, the door is open for Lewan to make his varsity debut as well. 

With Lewan in at 157, the Wolverines' lineup could look like the following, with best NCAA finish in parentheses:

125: #11 SO Drew Mattin (R16)

133: #3 JR Stevan Micic (2nd)

141: #6 SO Kanen Storr

149: #11 SR Alec Pantaleo (5th)

157: FR Will Lewan

165: #6 JR Logan Massa (3rd)

174: #3 JR Myles Amine (3rd)

184: FR Jelani Embree

197: JR Jackson Striggow

285: FR Mason Parris

With a healthy Micic back in action, it seems likely that Joey Silva, yet another blue-chip true freshman Wolverine (safe to say it was a solid recruiting class), will remain in redshirt for the time being.

In any event, it's quite the formidable squad. Michigan is currently fifth in our tournament-scoring-based team rankings. Although Penn State is still far ahead of the rest of the pack, Michigan will be in the hunt for a team podium placement, with a second-place trophy not out of the question.