You know how when there are several of the same kind of animal together, you can call them by a collective noun? Like a gaggle of geese or a pride of lions? Well, that applies to classic monsters as well. For example, it is customary to say you are being haunted by a coven of witches or that you are being chased by a pack of wolfmen. Similarly, you can say you have nightmares about a vanity of Draculas, a stumble of Frankensteins, a plague of FloBros, or a bog of eternal stench. 

What does that have to do with the upcoming NCAA wrestling season and our series of weight class previews? Absolutely nothing. Anyhow, on to the heavyweights!

285-Pound Preseason Rankings

Last season's 285-pound finalists have graduated. You may be familiar with them: Kyle Snyder and Adam Coon? Both will be in Budapest this month, representing the USA. Snyder will be attempting to win his fourth consecutive world or Olympic gold medal in men's freestyle, while Coon will be trying to capture a medal in Greco-Roman.

Fourth and sixth-place finishers Jacob Kasper and Mike Hughes have also run out of eligibility. Third-place finisher Amar Dhesi has one more year of eligibility, however, it remains to be seen if he is returning to the Oregon State program for one final season. Dhesi will also be in Budapest, representing Canada at 125 kg in men's freestyle. If Dhesi returns to collegiate wrestling after seeking glory for our friendly neighbors up north, he would be one of the contenders to win an NCAA title. If he does not, then that weight class opens up that much more. 

NCAA Previews: 125 | 133 | 141 | 149 | 157 | 165 | 174 | 184 | 197

The Favorites

#1 Sam Stoll, Iowa

#2 Nick Nevills, Penn State

Gable Steveson, Minnesota

Sam Stoll will miss the first dual of the Iowa schedule, but for disciplinary reasons rather than injury concerns. As such, the highest placing returning All-American should be in the hunt for the first Hawkeye heavyweight title since Steve Mocco.

Nick Nevills, the only returning competitor in the weight class with two All-American honors, will try and stop Stoll and become the first Nittany Lion since Kerry McCoy to hoist an individual heavyweight championship trophy. There is also the possibility that Anthony Cassar could start for PSU at 285-pounds, a talented New Jersey native who wrestled the previous season at 197-pounds. 

Gable Steveson's inclusion to the list of contenders is not warranted by his folkstyle results, of which he has few of any relevance, but because of freestyle results, of which he has many relevant and impressive results. Though they aren't considered for ranking purposes, which is why he's is unranked at the moment, Steveson has soundly beaten 2017 NCAA third-placer Tanner Hall twice in freestyle and split two close matches with USA National Team member and two-time All-American Dom Bradley. 

Although the USA National Team only goes three-deep, Steveson is unofficially fourth on the 125 kg ladder. Steveson is also a cadet and junior UWW world champion. Although Gable he is entering his true freshman year at Minnesota, his bona fides as a 285-pound NCAA title contender are undeniable. 

Watch Steveson tech-fall Tanner Hall in under three minutes at the 2018 U.S. Open:

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The Contenders

#3 Youssif Hemida, Maryland

#4 Derek White, Oklahoma State

#5 Tanner Hall, Arizona State

#6 Jordan Wood, Lehigh

With a two-time Olympian, two-time NCAA champion, Hodge trophy winner, and world silver medalist like Kerry McCoy running your practices every day, it's no wonder a guy who wasn't necessarily a blue-chip recruit like Youssif Hemida enters his senior season as an All-American and borderline title contender. 

Derek White bulked up from 197 to 285 last season and subsequently had the best season of his career. He'll be looking to improve on his round of 12 finish in this, his final year of eligibility at Oklahoma State.

Tanner Hall, as previously mentioned, finished third two seasons ago, but went 2-2 in Cleveland, despite being ranked in the top 10 all season long. Jordan Wood hovered around #10 for most of the season in the rankings, and will look to improve on his bloodround finish last season. 

Watch Hemida take out Campbell's Jere Heino in a dual meet: 

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Best of the Rest

#7 Billy Miller, Virginia Tech

#8 Jere Heino, Campbell

#9 Thomas Haines, Lock Haven

#10 Conan Jennings, Northwestern

#11 Shawn Streck, Purdue

No on this list has yet to climb a podium step in March, but they all spent significant time in the top 20 rankings last season. his a pretty tight cluster of heavyweights, as nearly everybody has both wins and losses against each other. Likewise for common opponents. 

Watch Thomas Haines win an EWL championship over Billy Miller when the latter was still at Edinboro:

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Sleepers and Landmines

#12 Matt Voss, George Mason

#15 Matt Stencel, Central Michigan

Deuce Rachal, Illinois

Ian Butterbrodt, Brown

Matt Voss the Boss upended Conan Jennings at the NCAAs. The George Mason Fightin' Beasleys are expecting big things from the senior from Edgewood, Washington.

Mid-American Confernce champion Matt Stencel is poised for a big year for the Chippewas. Deuce Rachal is always ready to go big, as anyone who has ever watched any of his exhilarating matches can attest. And Ian Budderbrodt is on the cusp of breaking through for the Bears. 

New Blood

#16 Tate Orndorff, Utah Valley

Gable Steveson, Minnesota

Chase Singletary, Ohio State

Trent Hillger, Wisconsin

Brandon Metz, North Dakota State

Mason Parris, Michigan

Tate Orndorff holds the distinction as the only heavyweight coming off a redshirt season to have notched enough impressive wins to earn a spot in the preseason top 20.

Steveson has already been covered. He is capital-bold-letters 'the' new heavyweight name to follow this year. Singletary, Hillger and Metz all made appearances on the Class of 2017 Big Board, at numbers 10, 21 and 53, respectively. It will be fun watching their collegiate careers unfold. 

Another name to keep in mind is Michigan's Mason Parris. It's possible Parris takes a redshirt season as a true freshman, but it's also possible that Mason makes like his mentor, Adam Coon, and starts right away. Expect #3 on the Class of 2018 Big Board to be problems if he wrestles in his first year as a Wolverine. 

Watch Metz lat-drop his way to a third-place finish at the Daktronics Open:

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Key Dates

• November 18 - Oklahoma State at Minnesota (White vs Steveson, the first big test for Steveson comes early in the season.)
• November 30 - George Mason at Lock Haven (Haines vs Voss)
• December 2 - Lehigh at Penn State (Wood vs Nevills)
• December 8 - Lehigh at Iowa (Wood vs Stoll)
• December 14 - Arizona State at Penn State (Hall vs Nevills)
• January 13 - Iowa at Minnesota (Stoll vs Steveson)
• February 3 - Lehigh at Oklahoma State (Wood v White)
• February 10 - Maryland at Minnesota (Hemida vs Steveson)
• February 24 - Iowa at Oklahoma State (Stoll vs Steveson, count 'em up, this dual is must-see for almost every weight class!)

The big tounries like CKLV, Sucffle and Midlands remain events to circle on your calendar, but don't forget the Daktronics Open on Sunday, February 4, which will be the first time we should expect to see Gable Steveson wrestle a varsity match. 

285 is front-loaded this year, so make sure you are paying attention to the big dogs when the season begins!

Spey's Spredictions

1st: Gable Steveson, Minnesota

2nd: Sam Stoll, Iowa

3rd: Nick Nevills, Penn State

4th: Yousiff Hemida, Maryland

5th: Tanner Hall, Arizona State

6th: Derek White, Oklahoma State

7th: Billy Miller, Virginia Tech

8th: Thomas Haines, Lock Haven

R12: Jere Heino, Campbell

R12: Conan Jennings, Northwestern

R12: Shawn Streck, Central Michigan

R12: Chase Singletary, Ohio State

Is picking Gable Steveson to win an NCAA championship as a true freshman a bold move? I'm not so sure. On one hand, it's never been done before. On the other hand, no other heavyweight has accomplished what Gable Steveson has done before entering college. So given what we know, and with no disrespect to anyone else in the weight class, I'm comfortable with my pick for 2019 NCAA heavyweight champion. 

Stoll and Nevills are the next two most credentialed 285-pounders, and I'm likewise comfortable picking them to finish near the top of the division come March. 

I'm less sure of the exact finish of Hemida, Hall and White. They are very close in talent and have similar enough resumes that they'll all finish the season on the podium on consecutive steps. 

Miller and Haines are long overdue for wrestling in a Saturday afternoon match during the NCAA Tournament, even if it means keeping studs like Jere Heino, Conan Jennings and Shawn Streck off the podium. Chase Singletary hopefully has a very long heavyweight career ahead of him with several more opportunities to become an All-American, though I won't be disappointed if he proves me wrong and becomes one this season. 

That's it for the previews. Can you feel how close the season is? It is literally palpable. And we have the UWW World Championships to tide you over until November. See you then wrestling fans!