2019-20 NCAA Preview & Predictions: 285 Pounds

2019-20 NCAA Preview & Predictions: 285 Pounds

Previewing 285 pounds for the Division I college wrestling season and predicting the All-Americans at the 2020 NCAA tournament.

Nov 1, 2019 by Wrestling Nomad
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Summer has turned to fall, which means the leaves (and Flo’s logo) are changing from green to red. It also means folkstyle has returned, and college wrestling has already begun!

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Summer has turned to fall, which means the leaves (and Flo’s logo) are changing from green to red. It also means folkstyle has returned, and college wrestling has already begun!

Preview szn will take into account many things, from weight class rankings to redshirt reports to the crystal ball rankings, to try to give you as clear a picture as possible of what’s in store for the 2019-20 season. The specter of Olympic Trials will hang over the year, impacting weight class changes and the depth of some brackets at the NCAA tournament in Minneapolis.

At heavyweight, the national champ received at least one extra year of eligibility, as many as four other All-Americans from last year are coming back, as well as two studs returning from redshirt years. We'll also be getting into the freshmen ready to make an impact and dark horses looking to rise in the rankings and place at the end of the year.

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

The Favorite: #1 Anthony Cassar, Penn State

It's still hard to fathom the trajectory of Cassar's career, from not qualifying for Jersey states his first three years to winning it as a senior, being off the Big Board but then making a Junior world team, and never being a starter in college before being an NCAA champ. Now, with this year left and an option for next year if he wants it, Cassar represents a massive boon to PSU's title chances the next couple seasons.

He seems like a reasonable bet to be a Hodge finalist, along with his teammates Mark Hall and Vincenzo Joseph, all of whom start the year ranked first. Cassar could put up takedown numbers approaching what we saw out of Kyle Snyder when he at 285. He beat #2 Gable Steveson and #6 Trent Hillger twice, as well as a major over #3 Jordan Wood early in the regular season.

One thing that will be fascinating is when he makes his return to freestyle when the Nittany Lions go en masse to the U.S. Open in December in Fort Worth, Texas. It will be his first time wrestling freestyle since Junior worlds in 2015, and it's not unrealistic to see him winning it.

The Contenders

#2 Gable Steveson, Minnesota

#3 Jordan Wood, Lehigh

It was somewhat difficult to include Jordan Wood when Gable Steveson has never lost a match to him. But with the news yesterday that Steveson is still suspended and not practicing with the team, it felt right to add Wood. The Gopher heavyweight is currently in limbo, but if he is able to return will be favored to be in the finals opposite Cassar.

This portion was originally going to include Greg Kerkvliet, but with him entering the transfer portal, it seems unlikely he'll be wrestling this season.

Jordan Wood has been in the public view for quite some time, having been a four-time finalist and two-time champ in Pennsylvania, Cadet world silver, wrestled at Who's #1, Junior world teamer, and now All-American. He is a leader for the Mountain Hawks with two seasons of eligibility remaining, a reliable closer in the Brown & White lineup. I think his absolute floor, the worst-case scenario, is fourth.

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Best of the Rest

#4 Tanner Hall, Arizona State

#5 Matt Stencel, Central Michigan

#6 Trent Hillger, Wisconsin

#7 Jere Heino, Campbell

#9 Mason Parris, Michigan

A good mix here for the guys favored to fill out the podium, excluding Zach Elam who is redshirting this year. A 2017 All-American for the Sun Devils, Hall is the elder statesmen of the group (to put it mildly). The 2011 high school graduate won Midlands last season competing unattached, and is a huge factor in ASU's chances of winning a team trophy for the first time in since Zeke Jones has been the head coach.

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Matt Stencel finished #18 on the 2016 Big Board and has now finally worked his way into the Top-5 of the rankings. A returning AA with just six losses (two of which he avenged), Stencel is CMU's ace in the hole at the end of duals. He's also a must-watch as he led the nation in falls against Division I opponents, with over a quarter of them coming in the first minute.

Along with Seth Gross and Evan Wick, #6 Hillger are returning placers for the Badgers. Thor is athletic, good on top, and can be creative from neutral, with some scrambling mixed in. He was in the Junior Trials finals and went three matches with Parris, a guy he'll likely have to see multiple times this year.

Campbell redshirted a good portion of their starting roster, and are now pushing for the first SoCon title of the Cary Kolat era as he tries to raise the Camels up just as NC State and North Carolina are also on the rise. One of those guys redshirting was Heino, who now has several years' worth of experience at the world championships for Finland. He fell to Hall in the Midlands semis only to beat him a few weeks later in freestyle at the Dave Schultz.

Rounding out the AA contenders is Junior world champ Mason Parris, who was one of the most intriguing prospects coming out of high school. A three-sport athlete who never got a chance to focus on wrestling, you see him still making jumps. The fireman's is his main offensive attack, but he'll have to expand beyond that to jump into the next tier of heavyweights.

Sleepers and Landmines

#12 David Tate Orndorrf, Utah Valley

#14 Demetrius Thomas, Pittsburgh

#16 AJ Nevills, Fresno State

Orndorrf is coming back from a 1-1 performance as our Greco heavyweight at U23 worlds, but unlike his teammate Taylor LaMont, he will not be taking an Olympic Redshirt. Six of his nine losses last year were to All-Americans, so he's right on the cusp of getting on the podium himself.

Thomas fell off a bit at the end of the year, getting majored twice at NCAAs, but I see him rebounding in a big way and being a surprise placer for Keith Gavin's Panthers. Nevills did not appear in Fresno's first duals of the year, so hopefully he is healthy and won't miss extended time.

New Blood

#11 Anthony Cassioppi, Iowa

Garrett Hoffman, Bucknell

Aidan Conner, Princeton

John Birchmeier, Navy

Not a whole lot of guys making their way into the weight. The #14 guy on the 2018 Big Board, Cassioppi went 20-2 during his redshirt year for the Hawkeyes, falling to Heino and Stencel at Midlands. This wouldn't impact the rankings, but Cassioppi beat Parris at Fargo last July and is already ranked #11 to begin with before taking Elam out, so he's a Top-10 guy walking in already.

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Hoffman is making his way up from 197 after missing all of last season with an injury. Conner was a Super 32 champ last year who should start right away for the Tigers, and Birchmeier was a Beast of the East champ from Virginia who Navy already rolled out on opening day.

Nomad's Predictions

  1. Anthony Cassar, Penn State
  2. Gable Steveson, Minnesota
  3. Jordan Wood, Lehigh
  4. Trent Hillger, Wisconsin
  5. Jere Heino, Campbell
  6. Tanner Hall, Arizona State
  7. Anthony Cassioppi, Iowa
  8. Demetrius Thomas, Pittsburgh

It's still unclear if Steveson will wrestle this season or not, but if he does, I think we'll see him in the finals. With him not being able to practice, plus Penn State's track record, as well as Cassar being 2-0 against him, it's a relatively easy choice for me.

Wood is too steady to see him placing behind Gable, and if he's not there, should be in the finals. There's a lot of hype around the Badgers getting a team trophy this year, and it appears I'm buying into it with Hillger jumping up a few rungs on the ladder.

Kolat's second AA will be the giant Finnish man, and he'll get another crack at Hall. Cassioppi's too good on top and has too reliable a track record from high school, though that would knock out a guy who pinned him in 43 seconds last year in Stencel. I already mentioned I'm taking Big Meech to finish on the podium.