It's CKLV week, and with over 100 ranked wrestlers coming to Vegas, our previews need to be broken up into pieces. Today we're going over 197 and 285 pounds. There is an absurd number of hammers registered for each weight class, and that is not hyperbole, as you shall soon discover. 

Between these two weights, there are 17 total ranked wrestlers out of a total possible of 40. Additionally, you can expect to see some junior college and lower division studs, as well as bubble contenders and studs that aren't ranked but will be the end of the year.

Yes, there is a veritable cornucopia of quality wrestling in store for us all in Las Vegas. 

Watch Cliff Keen Las Vegas Live on Flo

Nov. 30 - Dec. 1 | 12PM Eastern

Teams are allowed one entry per weight, so don't expect redshirts and backups to make it to Vegas. Brackets will eventually be on FloArena and pre-seeds will be here Wednesday or Thursday night.

197 Pounds

The Favorite

#3 Kollin Moore, Ohio State

Contenders

#8 Nathan Traxler, Stanford

#9 Stephen Loiseau, Drexel

#10 Christian Brunner, Purdue

In The Mix

#12 Corey Griego, Oregon State

#15 Jacob Woodley, Oklahoma

#16 Jackson Striggow, Michigan

#17 Tom Sleigh, Virginia Tech

#18 Eric Schultz, Nebraska

Ben Honis, Cornell

Sawyer Root, The Citadel

Tanner Orndorff, Utah Valley

Matt Correnti, Rutgers

Greg Bulsak, Clarion

Kollin Moore is one of five returning champs expected in Las Vegas and the headliner of the 197-pound division. Moore had some close battles in the first few rounds of last year's CKLV but then got on a roll starting in the quarters and capped off his run with a first period pin of NCAA finalists Jared Haught. 

Moore returned to Columbus with a silver medal from the U23 Freestyle World Championships, so the Cliff Keen Invitational will be his reintroduction to folkstyle. Luckily, Moore has attacks from neutral that work in both styles. Moore's fireman's carry is particularly deadly, as Haught can attest all too well.

Three top-10 wrestlers are the leading contenders to upset the Buckeye favorite. Nathan Traxler settled for seventh place last year in Vegas. He'll be favored to improve, as will Stephen Loiseau, who may not be the tallest 197-pounder but is quite possibly the funkiest. 

Christian Brunner, like Kollin Moore, is also returning from the U23 World Championships and ready to get back into the folkstyle season, rounds out our trio of contenders.

125 & 133 Preview | 141, 149 & 157 Preview | 165, 174 & 184 Preview

Watch Moore pin Virginia Tech's Jared Haught in the finals of last year's CKLV:

Corey Griego only wrestled two matches at the Navy Classic. Hopefully he's able to compete in a full complement of matches in Vegas, as the three-time qualifier looks to put together his final collegiate campaign. 

Jacob Woodley is one of the younger wrestlers in the tournament, but he's not to be overlooked. The Pittsburgh native has the potential to win a low of awards by the time his career is over. On the other end of the eligibility spectrum, Tom Sleigh already has his undergraduate degree from Bucknell and transferred to Virginia Tech in the offseason to pursue a graduate degree and compete in his final year of eligibility. The savvy vet will be one of the most experienced and accomplished 197-pounders in Vegas. 

Both Jackson Striggow and Eric Schultz have at least one more year of eligibility left after this season. Schultz was in Vegas last year but did not ascend the podium, a deficiency he will look to remedy this weekend. 

Ben Honis, filling in for All-American Ben Darmstadt, who is out for the season with an injury, is one of the most dangerous non-ranked competitors in the field. He will be joined by four other unranked national qualifiers who capable of tripping up the ranked competitors in the bracket. 

Check out Loiseau punch his ticket to the semifinals with a win over Cal Poly's Thomas Lane:

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Spey's Spredictions

1. Kollin Moore, Ohio State

2. Stephen Loiseau, Drexel

3. Nathan Traxler, Ohio State

4. Jacob Woodley, Oklahoma

285 Pounds

The Favorite

#3 Gable Steveson, Minnesota

Contenders

#9 Conan Jennings, Northwestern

#11 Jeremy Sweany, Cornell

#12 Cory Daniel, North Carolina

#13 Matt Stencel, Central Michigan

#15 Tate Orndorff, Utah Valley

#17 AJ Nevills, Fresno State

#19 Joey Goodhart, Drexel

In The Mix

Zach Elam, Missouri

Chase Singletary, Ohio State

Demetrius Thomas, Pittsburgh

Brandon Metz, North Dakota State

Patrick Grayson, Nebraska

Christian Colucci, Rutgers

Ian Butterbrodt, Brown

Duece Rachal, Illinois

Despite being a true freshman, Gable Steveson may also be the biggest lock to win an individual title of anyone at the Cliff Keen Invitational. With all due respect to the rest of the field, none of them can match Steveson's combination of nimble feet and pure power. Indeed, it is Steveson's ability to go toe-to-toe physically with the very best senior level wrestlers in the nation that makes him a favorite when considering a field that contains no All-Americans. In fact, it appears Vegas will not even be setting a line nor accepting wagers on the heavyweight division. 

So who will have the daunting task of stopping Steveson? All of the ranked contenders have qualified for the NCAA Tournament at least once, so they have experience competing in a multiple day tournament of this magnitude. Only Jeremy Sweany placed at the CKLV last year, earning an eighth-place medal. The senior from California has one last chance at becoming the first heavyweight All-American in Cornell program history.

Conan Jennings is also in his senior season. He's looking to place in the final eight for the first in his career, but Northwestern has had heavyweight All-Americans before (looking at you, four-time AA Mike McMullan). Cory Daniel, also a senior, is a two-time qualifier. Junior Tanner Orndorff has similarly made two trips to nationals in his career. Ditto for senior Joey Goodhart. AJ Nevills is a mere sophomore, who gets three more cracks at wrestling at nationals. 

CKLV Teams List | Full Schedule

Watch Gable Steveson pass the first big test of his college career when he beat #4 Derek White in his first official varsity match: 

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There are several young heavies that will be worth keeping an eye on in the 285-pound bracket. Zach Elam is the only true freshman of the bunch, but he's already in the Missouri lineup and has three wins over fellow D1 starters against no losses. Brandon Metz is a redshirt freshman and is poised to anchor the Bison lineup for the next four years. And Chase Singletary is in an interesting position at Ohio State. While Kyle Snyder is a tough act to follow, Singletary is 10-0 already on the season. Singletary is a redshirt freshman, so it remains to be seen what the long-term plan is in Columbus with the #1 recruit in the high school class of 2019 on the way in Daniel Kirkvliet, but the Buckeyes have some flexibility with redshirts, greyshirts, and Olympic shirts all possible for Kirkvliet. In any event, it's a good problem to have and Singletary is a fun heavyweight to watch.

Demetrius Thomas is another heavyweight to watch. Thomas comes to Pitt with junior eligibility having spent the last two season at William Baptist University where he was a two-time finalist and one-time NAIA champ. 

Spey's Spredictions

1. Gable Steveson, Minnesota

2. Matt Stencel, Central Michigan

3. Zach Elam, Missouri

4. Demetrius Thomas, Pittsburgh