A lot of big names are gone from last season's biggest division at NCAAs, but that just opened the door for a new generation of heavies to make their mark in college wrestling. 

Gone are wrestling royalty and Hodge Trophy winners Wyatt Hendrickson and Gable Steveson. Three other All-Americans from 2025 also ran out of eligibility, leaving just Isaac Trumble and Ben Kueter back in the field from last year's podium. 

But that is a deceptive stat, as four other All-Americans from earlier seasons -- or in the case of AJ Ferrari, a lower weight class -- have returned to make for a heavyweight field as deep as it's ever been. 

Will Yonger Bastida or Taye Ghadalia make a triumphant senior season return after losing a year to injury? Will Trumble complete his career with an undefeated season? Will Mr Fast Twitch get back to number one status? Or will we see some other party crasher in this year's heavyweight field? 

Questions we won't have answers to until Saturday!

2026 NCAA Division 1 Rankings - 285 lbs

Interactive Brackets on FloWrestling

2025 All-Americans

1st Place - Wyatt Hendrickson, Oklahoma State

2nd Place - Gable Steveson, Minnesota

3rd Place - Cohlton Schultz, Arizona State

4th Place - Isaac Trumble, NC State

5th Place - Owen Trephan, Lehigh

6th Place - Greg Kerkvliet, Penn State

7th Place - Joshua Heindselman, Oklahoma

8th Place - Ben Kueter, Iowa

2026 Top 8 Seeds

1) Yonger Bastida, Iowa State

2) Isaac Trumble, NC State

3) Taye Ghadiali, Michigan

4) AJ Ferrari, Nebraska

5) Nick Feldman, Ohio State

6) Nathan Taylor, Lehigh

7) Konner Doucet, Oklahoma State

8) Ben Kueter, Iowa

The Favorites

(FloWrestling national ranking listed)

#1 Yonger Bastida, Iowa State

#2 Isaac Trumble, NC State

The top five seeds lineup on target with Flo's rankings, though only two of them are undefeated with top 5 wins this season, and they're both on our short list of favorites. 

That's not to say that they are the only two heavyweights capable of winning, just that they have the most proven track records this season. 

Bastida is 25-0 on the season, which includes a CKLV title. The Cuban native also has a Cyclone Invitational title to his name that featured a win over Braxton Amos. The senior Cyclone also has wins over Kueter, Carroll, Feldman, Taylor, Szuba, and two wins over Doucet, one of which was in the Big 12 Championships finals. 

Watch Bastida win a CKLV title: 

Trumble has a shorter resume, with only one tournament title this season, that being the ACC Championships, which he won handily in two straight bouts. Isaac's season only started in December, but his second match was a marquee bout against Nick Feldman, which Trumble won 5-1. 

Contenders

#3 Taye Ghadiali, Michigan

#4 AJ Ferrari, Nebraska

#5 Nick Feldman, Ohio State

#6 Ben Kueter, Iowa

#7 Cole Mirasola, Penn State

#8 Konner Doucet, Oklahoma State

#9 Braxton Amos, Wisconsin

#10 David Szuba, Arizona State

#11 Nathan Taylor, Lehigh

Ghadiali, Ferrari, Feldman and Kueter have all found the podium at least once in their careers. Ferrari has taken a circuitous route to Nebraska after winning a national title for Oklahoma State back in 2021, but he's proven to be a force at heavyweight with recent wins at Big Tens over Feldman and Kueter. 

It was Ghadiai, however, who emerged victorious at the Big Ten Championships, besting Ferrari 5-2 and establishing himself as the next most likely title contender after the two undefeated favorites. The transfer from Campbell avenged an early-season loss to Ferrari, which occurred at the National Duals Invitational. The only blemish on the senior's record is an 11-2 loss to Christian Carroll at the CKLV. 

Feldman, Kueter, and Mirasola had one battle after another in the Big Ten. Feldman has wins over Kueter (twice), while Kueter split matches with Mirasola, and Mirasola has a win over Feldman. That makes for some difficult rankings, though out-of-conference results have them settled in their current order. Amos falls just behind that trio, though the U20 world gold medalist has proven he has the potential to contend with all of them.

Watch Feldman and Kueter wrestling in a late-season dual: 

Doucet and Szuba had Bastida to contend with in the Big 12. A win by Szuba over fellow contender and 2025 bloodrounder Nathan Taylor in the last dual meet of the season for both teams helped elevate both of their seeds just before tournament time. 

Sleepers & Landmines

#13 Christian Carroll, Wyoming

#14 Luke Luffman, Illinois

#19 Jimmy Mullen, Virginia Tech

#20 Nate Schon, Drexel

Christian Carroll took two surprising losses at the Big 12 tournament that hurt his seed, as he fell all the way to #18 despite being ranked #13. Carroll had an excellent CKLV tournament, where he beat Ghadiali and gave Bastida a very tough bout in the finals. 

Luffman is also ranked much lower (#26) than his ranking. The 2025 bloodrounder had a hellacious strength of schedule and is capable of going on a run at NCAAs. 

Redshirt sophomore Jimmy Mullen is also poised for a breakout performance. The New Jersey native was a blue-chip recruit and has the size to give any heavyweight problems. 

Nate Schon, an Iowa State transfer, may not have the size, but he has the tenacity and fearlessness to take on any 285-pounder. He also gave Mullen all he could handle at the Keystone Classic, falling in a tight, 8-7 bout. 

Watch Schon win in the EIWA semifinals:

Early Matches to Watch

Any match from the quarterfinals is going to be must-see, but here are some early round matchups that shouldn't slip past your radar.

Round 1 - Koy Hopke, Minnesota vs Nate Schon, Drexel

Hopke comes from a heavyweight university, a school known for producing All-American 285-pounders, while Schon is coming on strong for the Dragons after a command performance at EIWAs. This is a high quality match up for the #14 vs #19 seeds. 

Round 1 - Cole Mirasola, Penn State vs Connor Barket, Duke

Connor Barket has been a bright spot for the Blue Devils this season. Mirasola will be favored, but the Duke heavy is not to be underestimated. 

Round 1 - Christian Carroll, Wyoming vs Brady Colbert, Army

Colbert did not have the EIWA tournament he was hoping for, but the Army heavyweight has an impressive resume that includes a win over Nathan Taylor. Carroll is also looking to change his momentum after conference weekend. The winner here could be a bracket disruptor. 

Round 2 - Nick Feldman, Ohio State vs Braxton Amos, Wisconsin

Assuming this matchup happens, we're looking at a premier Big Ten bout between the #5 seed vs #12 seed. 

Round 2 - Konner Doucet, Oklahoma State vs David Szuba, Arizona State

Round 2 - Ben Kueter, Iowa vs Cole Mirasola, Penn State

The final two bouts to watch in the second round will likely see matchups between two intraconference All-American contenders. Assuming no upsets, we've got some fire heavyweight bouts to look forward to on Thursday night. 

Spey's Spredictions

1st - Yonger Bastida, Iowa State

2nd - Isaac Trumble, NC State

3rd - Nick Feldman, Ohio State

4th - Nathan Taylor, Lehigh

5th - Taye Ghadiali, Michigan

6th - AJ Ferrari, Nebraska

7th - Braxton Amos, Wisconsin

8th - Cole Mirasola, Penn State

R12 - Christian Carroll, Wyoming

R12 - Koy Hopke, Minnesota

R12 - Konner Doucet, Oklahoma State

R12 - Ben Kueter, Iowa

I'm picking the favorites to finish in the top two, but then I get a little more adventurous. Ghadiali and Ferrari have earned their seeds, but I think Feldman goes on a hot streak in Cleveland, which is just a short road trip from his home base in Columbus. 

I'm also assuming Taylor finds a new level and has career performance. He's got a coach in Zack Rey that knows a thing or two about NCAA performances. 

Higher seeds make up most of the rest of the picks, with the outlier being Carroll, who I think is better than his seed suggests. We'll see how these picks look in a few days!