Next Season's Returning NCAA All-Americans: 285 Pounds
Next Season's Returning NCAA All-Americans: 285 Pounds
It may be the NCAA offseason, but October will be rolling around soon enough. We're goingthrough each weight class and highlight every All-American to look out for in the 2017-18 season. Up now is 285 pounds.
It may be the NCAA offseason, but October will be rolling around soon enough.
We've already taken a look at the top 20 teams ranked by order of returning NCAA points. Now we are going through each weight class and highlight every All-American returning for the 2017-18 season.
Top 20 Returning NCAA Team Points | 125 Returning AAs | 133 Returning AAs | 141 Returning AAs | 149 Returning AAs | 157 Returning AAs | 165 Returning AAs | 174 Returning AAs | 184 Returning AAs | 197 Returning AAs
We will have a better idea of who will be taking redshirts and what weight classes they will be in as we get closer to the start of the season. Until then, here are our best guesses, though feel free to holler at us with any updates on those topics.
Returns 2 National Championships and 9 All-American Honors
It's kind of a big deal when you have a three-time finalist and two-time champion returning to a weight class. It's kind of a really big deal when the returning champ is also the reigning world and Olympic freestyle gold medalist. Ohio State's Kyle Snyder is one of the biggest names in wrestling, and he's back to add some star power to what is shaping up to be one of the deepest and most dynamic 285-pound divisions in recent memory.
Coon's NCAA finishes are, in chronological order, round of 12, second, and third, all in his first three seasons without the benefit of a redshirt, making him the second-most credentialed NCAA heavyweight after Snyder. Michigan head coach Joe McFarland gave Coon the opportunity to take last season off and focus on aerospace engineering. But Coon is back for his senior year and will be the favorite to meet Kyle Snyder in the 285 finals match in Cleveland.
It has been a circuitous route for the Idaho native, but Hall has found a home for himself in Tempe Arizona, along with head coach Zeke Jones' resurgent Sun Devils squad. Hall finished in the bloodround in New York City in 2016 but made it all the way to the consolation finals in St Louis, beating Virginia Tech's Ty Walz in an epic overtime match that was decided on tiebreakers. Hall will be a problem for the rest of the heavyweight bracket next season.
An unfortunate injury kept the Oregon State Beaver by way of British Columbia from competing in the 2016-17 NCAA season, but when Dhesi was heathy he was as dangerous a foe as anyone in the NCAA. He's pretty decent at freestyle as well, in possession of a win over Adam Coon at the 2014 junior world championship in which Dhesi placed first. If Dhesi is back in top shape, he will be one of the leading contenders at 285.
Nick Nevills was also bitten by the injury bug and forced to miss the second half of his redshirt freshman season. Nevills was healthy and in rare form last year, however, and notched a fifth-place finish at his first NCAA tournament. At that tournament, Nevills avenged a quarterfinals loss to Duke's Jacob Kasper when they met again in the fifth-place match. Although the field has been thinned by graduation, it's also been thickened with the additions of Coon and Dhesi. So as talented as Nevills is, he will have a fight on his hands to improve on his performance in St. Louis.
Watch Snyder dispatch Kasper in the NCAA semis in the video below.
Did we miss anybody? Let us know! And thanks for tuning in and reading. Plenty of more NCAA news, hype, and analysis coming soon, so come back early and often!
We've already taken a look at the top 20 teams ranked by order of returning NCAA points. Now we are going through each weight class and highlight every All-American returning for the 2017-18 season.
Top 20 Returning NCAA Team Points | 125 Returning AAs | 133 Returning AAs | 141 Returning AAs | 149 Returning AAs | 157 Returning AAs | 165 Returning AAs | 174 Returning AAs | 184 Returning AAs | 197 Returning AAs
We will have a better idea of who will be taking redshirts and what weight classes they will be in as we get closer to the start of the season. Until then, here are our best guesses, though feel free to holler at us with any updates on those topics.
285 Pounds
Returns 2 National Championships and 9 All-American Honors
It's kind of a big deal when you have a three-time finalist and two-time champion returning to a weight class. It's kind of a really big deal when the returning champ is also the reigning world and Olympic freestyle gold medalist. Ohio State's Kyle Snyder is one of the biggest names in wrestling, and he's back to add some star power to what is shaping up to be one of the deepest and most dynamic 285-pound divisions in recent memory. Kyle Snyder, Ohio State 2, 1, 1, ?
Snyder is almost too impressive to properly hype, especially when we've already mentioned his NCAA and international accomplishments. If you're reading this, you know who Snyder is, you know how good he is, and you know you want to watch his matches. So do yourself a favor and tune in when he wrestles!
Adam Coon, Michigan DNP, 2, 3, ?
Coon's NCAA finishes are, in chronological order, round of 12, second, and third, all in his first three seasons without the benefit of a redshirt, making him the second-most credentialed NCAA heavyweight after Snyder. Michigan head coach Joe McFarland gave Coon the opportunity to take last season off and focus on aerospace engineering. But Coon is back for his senior year and will be the favorite to meet Kyle Snyder in the 285 finals match in Cleveland.
Tanner Hall, Arizona State DNP, 3, ?, ?
It has been a circuitous route for the Idaho native, but Hall has found a home for himself in Tempe Arizona, along with head coach Zeke Jones' resurgent Sun Devils squad. Hall finished in the bloodround in New York City in 2016 but made it all the way to the consolation finals in St Louis, beating Virginia Tech's Ty Walz in an epic overtime match that was decided on tiebreakers. Hall will be a problem for the rest of the heavyweight bracket next season.
Amarveer Dhesi, Oregon State DNP, 5, DNP, ?
An unfortunate injury kept the Oregon State Beaver by way of British Columbia from competing in the 2016-17 NCAA season, but when Dhesi was heathy he was as dangerous a foe as anyone in the NCAA. He's pretty decent at freestyle as well, in possession of a win over Adam Coon at the 2014 junior world championship in which Dhesi placed first. If Dhesi is back in top shape, he will be one of the leading contenders at 285.
Nick Nevills, Penn State DNP, 5, ?, ?
Nick Nevills was also bitten by the injury bug and forced to miss the second half of his redshirt freshman season. Nevills was healthy and in rare form last year, however, and notched a fifth-place finish at his first NCAA tournament. At that tournament, Nevills avenged a quarterfinals loss to Duke's Jacob Kasper when they met again in the fifth-place match. Although the field has been thinned by graduation, it's also been thickened with the additions of Coon and Dhesi. So as talented as Nevills is, he will have a fight on his hands to improve on his performance in St. Louis.Jacob Kasper, Duke DNP, DNP, 6, ?
Perhaps more impressive than Kasper's sixth-place finish in 2017 (which is pretty dang impressive) was the fact that for the two previous years, the Brobdingnagian Blue Devil wrestled at 184 pounds. Beefing up to the big boy division paid dividends, as Kasper becoming only the second Duke All-American in the last seven years. Kasper should again be in the mix this year, as his lighter-weight wrestling style make him a problem for the more traditional heavyweights.Watch Snyder dispatch Kasper in the NCAA semis in the video below.
Did we miss anybody? Let us know! And thanks for tuning in and reading. Plenty of more NCAA news, hype, and analysis coming soon, so come back early and often!