2022-23 Big 12 Conference Rankings

197 pounds

This weight in the Big 12 provided a lot of entertainment and chaos throughout the year last year. Stephan Buchanan proved to be the guy to beat after taking an early season loss to Owen Pentz, as he picked up multiple wins over Elam and Bastida on his way to a Big 12 title and a third-place finish at the NCAA tournament. Elam overcame two previous losses to Bastida at the NCAA tournament where he eventually finished fourth. Bastida may have the biggest upside in this weight class as he has shown to make huge jumps in his folkstyle game over the last two seasons, as he finished fifth at the NCAA tournament last season after going just 4-4 as a freshman in 2021. With the top seven guys in this weight ranked in the top 33 in the country at 197 pounds to begin the season, expect this to be one of the premier weight classes of the Big 12.