“Our own Olympic team in Ann Arbor”: Five wrestlers from Michigan on their way to Paris

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (WOOD) — If you walk into a wrestling gym in Michigan these days, there’s a good chance you’ll see an Olympian at work.

“I think just the fact that we have this culture here, Cliff Keen Wrestling Club “It was just incredible,” said one of those Olympians, Mason Parris. “We can all build on each other’s energy. We can encourage each other. When we have tough days, we can cheer each other up.”

“We have four other Olympians,” said Myles Amine, who became the first Michigan wrestler to win an Olympic medal when he took bronze in Tokyo. “It just feels like we have our own Olympic team here in Ann Arbor.”

Parris and Adam Coon will wrestle for Team USA, Amine will compete for San Marino, Stevan Micic for Serbia and Austin Gomez – the latest standout from Michigan – for Mexico.

“You want to surround yourself with people who have the same goals and lifestyle as you to give you extra motivation,” Gomez said.

One of the reasons Gomez transferred to Michigan for his fifth year was the presence of former Olympian and Michigan assistant coach Kevin Jackson and head coach Sergei Beloglazov, who won two gold medals for Russia in 1980 and 1988.

“They really emphasize that loving the process is much more important than loving the results, and I really try to embody that and incorporate that philosophy into my life as much as possible,” Amine said.

All five are in different weight classes, so none of them will be competing directly against each other in Paris, meaning they can cheer each other on.

“We were all on our way to the Olympics. But… it’s cool because I can call them my teammates, my brothers and fellow Olympians,” Amine said.