NCAA Preview & Predictions: 285 Pounds
NCAA Preview & Predictions: 285 Pounds
Preview and predictions for the 285-pound weight class for the 2017-18 NCAA DI wrestling season.
The 2017-18 NCAA wrestling season is officially underway, which means it's time to start rolling out our weight class previews.
A couple big-name heavyweights won't be back for the 2017-18 season. Last year's finalist and two-time All-American Connor Medbery has run out of eligibility, as have three-time podium placers Ty Walz and Michael Kroells. Denzel Dejournette was the only other senior All-American, meaning four of last year's top eight return and a couple big names come off redshirt to liven up the big boy division. And there is also that guy Kyle Snyder, whom I hear is decent.
Other 2017-18 weight class previews: 125 Pounds | 133 Pounds | 141 Pounds | 149 Pounds | 157 Pounds | 165 Pounds | 174 Pounds | 184 Pounds | 197 Pounds
For our final NCAA preview, we'll run down the top contenders, then make some way-too-early All-American and bloodround predictions and include an explanation.
Check out our 285 preview from last year.
Apologies to the rest of field but Kyle Snyder is in a league of his own. When the Woodbine, Maryland, native isn't winning national championships for Ohio State, he's competing in freestyle and winning Olympic and world championships for Team USA. You can make a case for including Adam Coon, who is coming off redshirt for his final year of eligibility, but Snyder beat Coon solidly in the 2016 Big Ten Conference Tournament finals. I think if anything the gap between the two may have widened. If anyone does threaten Snyder this year, in any match, it would be a surprise.
Watch Kyle Snyder pick up a win over Connor Medbery and win his second NCAA Championship:
2: Adam Coon, Michigan
3: Tanner Hall, Arizona State
4: Nick Nevills, Penn State
5: Jacob Kasper, Duke
6: Amar Dhesi, Oregon State
7: Mike Hughes, Hofstra
8: Sam Stoll, Iowa
R12: Ryan Solomon, Pittsburgh
R12: Thomas Haines, Lock Haven
R12: Billy Miller, Edinboro
R12: Jordan Wood, Lehigh
I went mostly chalk for the 285-pound bracket, the weight class in which we are least likely to find upsets in March.
I sure hope I don't have to explain why I predicted Snyder to win his third national championship. Coon is perhaps more of an unknown, as we haven't seen him wrestle since he place third in the 2016 NCAA tournament. But I highly doubt Coon's hiatus to focus on his aerospace engineering curriculum set his wrestling ability back any, and so I expect him to be back in the finals for the second time in his career.
Watch Snyder beat Coon in the 2016 Big Ten finals:
Tanner Hall has been a great pick up for the Sun Devils. The Idaho native has been steadily improving since arriving on campus and looked phenomenal last year in St. Louis, even though his coaches were dinged for three penalty points during his third-place winning match against Ty Walz.
Nick Nevills and Jacob Kasper both have phenomenal footwork for big men, and their nimbleness is a large part of what helped them finish as All-Americans in St. Louis. They split matches at last season's tournament, with Kasper winning the quarterfinal bout but Nevills getting revenge in the fifth-place match. I'm predicting they'll finish in the same order this season, but if it's vice versa in 2018 it would come as absolutely no surprise, kind of like finding out people care more about a smashed-up burger order than a random kid getting picked on.
Watch Kasper win the first of his two meetings with Nevills at the 2017 NCAA Tournament:
Amar Dhesi did not get an opportunity to compete last year due to injuries, but the British Columbia native is dangerous when he's healthy and owns a win over Coon in freestyle at the 2014 UWW Junior World Championship.
Mike Hughes is the other big senior heavyweight contender coming off redshirt besides Coon, and I do mean big. The giant from Smithtown, New York, had a very productive redshirt season, with wins over Dejournette and a host of top 20 wrestlers.
Sam Stoll also has a long list of top 20 names on his hit list but was unfortunately felled by a midseason injury in January. I think a healthy Stoll is talented enough to make the podium, and I would not be shocked to see him climb higher than eighth.
Ryan Solomon and Thomas Haines are on the same tier as Hughes and Stoll in my opinion, and leaving them out of the top eight was a very tough call. This is yet another instance in which I think the chances of me bring proven wrong come tournament time are high.
Billy Miller has been a consistent anchor of the Edinboro lineup over the past two years, qualifying for the NCAA tournament in his first two attempts. He's had some very good wins and some not-so-good losses on his record, so I think a bloodround finish is right in his wheelhouse.
Watch Miller upset Hughes 4-3 in the 2017 Southern Scuffle:
Jordan Wood is my sleeper pick, who could very well break through and find the podium on his redshirt freshman campaign. He's got a UWW cadet world silver medal and had a quality true freshman season wrestling unattached for the Mountain Hawks.
That wraps up our 2017-18 NCAA season preview. Hope the waiting for the wrestling to begin hasn't been too hard for you. We'll see you in a week for the first official competitions of the season!
A couple big-name heavyweights won't be back for the 2017-18 season. Last year's finalist and two-time All-American Connor Medbery has run out of eligibility, as have three-time podium placers Ty Walz and Michael Kroells. Denzel Dejournette was the only other senior All-American, meaning four of last year's top eight return and a couple big names come off redshirt to liven up the big boy division. And there is also that guy Kyle Snyder, whom I hear is decent.
Other 2017-18 weight class previews: 125 Pounds | 133 Pounds | 141 Pounds | 149 Pounds | 157 Pounds | 165 Pounds | 174 Pounds | 184 Pounds | 197 Pounds
For our final NCAA preview, we'll run down the top contenders, then make some way-too-early All-American and bloodround predictions and include an explanation.
Check out our 285 preview from last year.
Title Contenders
Kyle Snyder, Ohio StateApologies to the rest of field but Kyle Snyder is in a league of his own. When the Woodbine, Maryland, native isn't winning national championships for Ohio State, he's competing in freestyle and winning Olympic and world championships for Team USA. You can make a case for including Adam Coon, who is coming off redshirt for his final year of eligibility, but Snyder beat Coon solidly in the 2016 Big Ten Conference Tournament finals. I think if anything the gap between the two may have widened. If anyone does threaten Snyder this year, in any match, it would be a surprise.
Watch Kyle Snyder pick up a win over Connor Medbery and win his second NCAA Championship:
Spey's Spredictions
1: Kyle Snyder, Ohio State2: Adam Coon, Michigan
3: Tanner Hall, Arizona State
4: Nick Nevills, Penn State
5: Jacob Kasper, Duke
6: Amar Dhesi, Oregon State
7: Mike Hughes, Hofstra
8: Sam Stoll, Iowa
R12: Ryan Solomon, Pittsburgh
R12: Thomas Haines, Lock Haven
R12: Billy Miller, Edinboro
R12: Jordan Wood, Lehigh
I went mostly chalk for the 285-pound bracket, the weight class in which we are least likely to find upsets in March.
I sure hope I don't have to explain why I predicted Snyder to win his third national championship. Coon is perhaps more of an unknown, as we haven't seen him wrestle since he place third in the 2016 NCAA tournament. But I highly doubt Coon's hiatus to focus on his aerospace engineering curriculum set his wrestling ability back any, and so I expect him to be back in the finals for the second time in his career.
Watch Snyder beat Coon in the 2016 Big Ten finals:
Tanner Hall has been a great pick up for the Sun Devils. The Idaho native has been steadily improving since arriving on campus and looked phenomenal last year in St. Louis, even though his coaches were dinged for three penalty points during his third-place winning match against Ty Walz.
Nick Nevills and Jacob Kasper both have phenomenal footwork for big men, and their nimbleness is a large part of what helped them finish as All-Americans in St. Louis. They split matches at last season's tournament, with Kasper winning the quarterfinal bout but Nevills getting revenge in the fifth-place match. I'm predicting they'll finish in the same order this season, but if it's vice versa in 2018 it would come as absolutely no surprise, kind of like finding out people care more about a smashed-up burger order than a random kid getting picked on.
Watch Kasper win the first of his two meetings with Nevills at the 2017 NCAA Tournament:
Amar Dhesi did not get an opportunity to compete last year due to injuries, but the British Columbia native is dangerous when he's healthy and owns a win over Coon in freestyle at the 2014 UWW Junior World Championship.
Mike Hughes is the other big senior heavyweight contender coming off redshirt besides Coon, and I do mean big. The giant from Smithtown, New York, had a very productive redshirt season, with wins over Dejournette and a host of top 20 wrestlers.
Sam Stoll also has a long list of top 20 names on his hit list but was unfortunately felled by a midseason injury in January. I think a healthy Stoll is talented enough to make the podium, and I would not be shocked to see him climb higher than eighth.
Ryan Solomon and Thomas Haines are on the same tier as Hughes and Stoll in my opinion, and leaving them out of the top eight was a very tough call. This is yet another instance in which I think the chances of me bring proven wrong come tournament time are high.
Billy Miller has been a consistent anchor of the Edinboro lineup over the past two years, qualifying for the NCAA tournament in his first two attempts. He's had some very good wins and some not-so-good losses on his record, so I think a bloodround finish is right in his wheelhouse.
Watch Miller upset Hughes 4-3 in the 2017 Southern Scuffle:
Jordan Wood is my sleeper pick, who could very well break through and find the podium on his redshirt freshman campaign. He's got a UWW cadet world silver medal and had a quality true freshman season wrestling unattached for the Mountain Hawks.
That wraps up our 2017-18 NCAA season preview. Hope the waiting for the wrestling to begin hasn't been too hard for you. We'll see you in a week for the first official competitions of the season!