The crown jewel of the NCAA wrestling season is, naturally, the NCAA Championship. The next best thing on the calendar just may be the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. 

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December 6-7 | 12:00 PM Eastern

Not that there aren't other outstanding events throughout the season, but no tournament will likely come as close to replicating the depth and quality of competition that we'll see in Minneapolis this March than the Vegas Invite. 

Because it's an "invite," as opposed to an "open," teams will be limited to just one entry per weight class, just like at the NCAAs. With 14 of the top 25 teams entered, the brackets will be a veritable abattoir. Ranked wrestlers will be felled early as stacked brackets force early-round matchups between All-American contenders. 

Entries and eventually brackets can be found in FloArena. Nomad completed the lightweight preview found here, and here is the middleweight preview by our own David Bray. Below, your humble correspondent has completed the upperweight preview for your enjoyment and enlightenment. 

174lbs: 13 Ranked

#4 Bryce Steiert (UNI) SR

#5 Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) SO

#7 Dylan Lydy (Purdue) SR

#8 Anthony Valencia (Arizona State) SR

#9 Devin Skatzka (Minnesota) SR

#10 Hayden Hastings (Wyoming) SO

#11 Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) SO

#12 Brandon Womack (Cornell) SR

#14 Anthony Mantanona (Oklahoma) SO

#21 Daniel Bullard (NC State) JR

#22 Jackson Hemauer (Fresno State) SO

#23 Jacob Oliver (Edinboro) SO

#25 Kimball Bastian (Utah Valley) SR

Sage Heller (Hofstra) SR

Lorenzo De La Riva (ND State) SR

Tyler Morland (Northwestern) SO

Despite not having the top three NCAA title contenders at 174, this field at CKLV has a good chance to feature half of the 2020 All-Americans. The top two contenders for the Vegas crown are Bryce Steiert and Mickey Labriola. Both climbed podium steps last March. Steiert was eighth at 165, while Labriola was sixth at 174. Steiert has since bumped up, but proved he could compete at the same level up a weight class early this season. It was less than two weeks ago that the Panthers of Northern Iowa welcomed the Huskers to Ceder Falls and Labriola and Steiert faced off in West Gym.

Steiert beat Labriola by a razor-thin 2-1 margin. You can watch the match below, which may also be a preview to the finals in Las Vegas.

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Dylan Lydy and Anthony Valencia both had solid outings in New York's Capital Region. Valencia participated in the Journeymen Collegiate Classic and Northeast Duals, while Lydy and his fellow Boilermakers were only involved in the Duals. Lydy edged Valencia when the Boilermakers and Sun Devils met in the dual meet portion of the Journeymen event, which you can watch here. 

Devin Skatzka is the third returning All-American in the field (the fourth is Brandon Womack), and would have a higher ranking if he hadn't gotten upset by Dean Sherry of Rider in a dual meet earlier this season. The aforementioned Womack was recently bested (as in three days ago) by Kaleb Romero, also in a dual meet. Check out this profile we ran on Ohio State's Romero.

Redshirt sophomore Anthony Mantanona has been quietly working his way up the rankings. He already has wins over three national qualifiers this season and has the big move capabilities to keep any opponent on their toes all match long. 

Some unranked landmines to keep an eye on include North Dakota State's funky two-time national qualifier Lorenzo De La Riva and Northwestern's Tyler Moreland.

Spey's Spredictions: 1) Bryce Steiert, UNI; 2) Mikey Labriola, Nebraska; 3) Devin Skatzka, Minnesota; 4) Dylan Lydy, Purdue

184lbs: 12 Ranked

#1 Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) SR

#2 Trent Hidlay (NC State) FR

#3 Lou Deprez (Binghamton) SO

#4 Ben Darmstadt (Cornell) SO

#5 Taylor Lujan (UNI) SR

#7 Samuel Colbray (Iowa State) JR

#9 Taylor Venz (Nebraska) JR

#10 Hunter Bolen (Virginia Tech) SO

#17 Jelani Embree (Michigan) SO

#23 Max Lyon (Purdue) JR

#24 Alan Clothier (N. Colorado) JR

#25 Tate Samuelson (Wyoming) SO

Cody Mulligan (Edinboro) FR

Gavin Hoffman (Ohio State) FR

Owen Webster (Minnesota) SR

Zach Carlson (SD State) SR

An absolutely stupid weight class. Ridiculous. I would assume this is a joke if I didn't know better. 

Of the current top 10, only Nelson Brands (who did not start for Iowa in their last dual) and Shakur Rasheed (who has not wrestled yet this season for Penn State) are missing. If this bracket doesn't produce at least four All-Americans in Minneapolis, I will eat an entire Casey's Pizza. That is a promise.

The leading contender for a title in Vegas is also the guy most people would pick to finish first in the NCAAs, and that's 2018 Final X competitor Zahid Valencia. But don't expect a cakewalk for the pound-for-pound #1, as it was less than a month ago that Taylor Venz took Zahid to the wire at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic. Zahid held onto victory by his literal fingertips. 

Watch the whole match here:

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The fact that Venz, a former All-American, is ranked ninth, is evidence for how deep this weight class is. 

Venz very clearly had Zahid scouted (you did watch the match by now, yes?), so you can assume that everyone else in the field has copied and practiced the playbook that Venz laid out for them in Troy, NY. The question now is how will Zahid respond?

All-American Ben Darmstadt has returned to the mat after missing last season due to injury. He's also down a weight class and has already lost twice to two wrestlers who will be in the bracket with him, Lou DePrez and Trent Hidlay. Darmstadt, and his praying mantis-like body and enveloping four-limbed attack, will be no doubt looking for revenge.

Trying to spoil everyone's fun is Taylor Lujan, a three-time qualifier and two-time bloodrounder. Lujan is a proverbial man on a mission, and looks every bit the title contender after his dismantling of Venz earlier this year. Lujan brings the funk as much as anyone, though he combines his vast arsenal with acute positional awareness that makes him one of the most dangerous men in wrestling. 

For landmines, I like Jelani Embree, who has had bad luck with injuries in his young career but has all the tools to put himself in the upper echelon of the division. Also look out for Owen Webster, who has been hampered by injuries as well, but recently beat highly touted Oklahoma State redshirt freshman Anthony Montalvo in a dual meet.  

Spey's Spredictions: 1) Zahid Valencia, Arizona State; 2) Taylor Lujan, UNI; 3) Taylor Venz, Nebraska; 4) Trent Hidlay, NC State

197lbs: 10 Ranked

#1 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) SR

#6 Eric Schultz (Nebraska) JR

#9 Jay Aiello (Virginia) JR

#10 Thomas Lane (Cal Poly) SR

#11 Tanner Sloan (SD State) FR

#15 Tanner Orndorff (Utah Valley) SR

#16 Jake Woodley (Oklahoma) SO

#19 Christian Brunner (Purdue) SR

#20 Kordell Norfleet (Arizona State) JR

#25 Lucas Davison (Northwestern) FR

Greg Bulsak  (Clarion) JR

Dylan Reynolds (Edinboro) SR

Dom Ducharme (CSU-Bakersfield) JR

Colin McCracken (Kent State) SO

Jackson Striggow (Michigan) SR

Jacob Seely (Northern Colorado) SR

Joel Shapiro (Iowa State) FR

Kollin Moore has never finished worse than fourth at an NCAA Championship and has yet to lose more than four matches in a single collegiate season. He has been the steadiest of all the Eddies at 197 for the Buckeyes. All of Moore's losses last season were to Hodge Trophy winner Bo Nickal, who has since graduated (and fights Gordon Ryan this weekend).

Watch the top 197-pound title contender demolish #7 Nathan Traxler in the first-ever dual meet in the Buckeye's new facility, the Covelli Center:

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Moore just may obliterate everyone in the convention center this weekend, which would give him his third straight CKLV championship. However, there will still be a bevy of obstacles, including #16 Jake Woodley, who already took Moore to sudden victory this season at the Michigan State Open.

Another wrestler who took Moore to overtime (albeit last season) is Eric Schultz, who will also be in the bracket this weekend looking for revenge. So will Thomas Lane, who lost to Moore 13-6 at the CKLV last season, but will be eager to prove that he can knock off the best of the weight class, like he did at the 2019 NCAAs when he upset Jacob Warner in the second round. 

Another veteran of 2018's CKLV is Jay Aiello, who burst onto the scene in Vegas with wins over Christian Brunner, Tom Sleigh, and Nathan Traxler to establish himself as an upperweight force to be reckoned with. 

Then there's Tanner Sloan, who has quite the impressive hit list for a redshirt freshman, but whose hype train needs a boost after getting derailed by Tanner Orndorff in a dual meet two weeks ago. Orndorff is also expected to participate in this early season wrestling bonanza. 

It's still unknown whether we will see Jacob Holschlag of Northern Iowa compete this weekend. Holschalg is a title contender whose worst enemy is the litany of injuries he's suffered throughout his snakebitten college career. 

We're spoiled for choice when it comes to landmines. Anyone of the unranked wrestlers listed above as the potential to cause havoc in this bracket. Pity the wretched rankers who will have to sort out the mess inevitably made by this tournament. 

Spey's Spredictions: 1) Kollin Moore, Ohio State; 2) Eric Schultz, Nebraska; 3) Jake Woodley, Oklahoma; 4) Jay Aiello, Virginia

285lbs: 12 Ranked

#4 Tate Orndorff (Utah Valley) SO

#5 Tanner Hall (Arizona State) SR

#6 Mason Parris (Michigan) SO

#8 Chase Singletary (Ohio State) SO

#12 Christian Lance (Nebraska) SR

#13 Brian Andrews (Wyoming) JR

#14 Gannon Gremmel (Iowa State) JR

#17 Carter Isley (UNI) JR

#18 Brandon Metz (ND State) SO

#19 John Borst (Virginia Tech) SO

#20 Jon Spaulding (Edinboro) JR

#25 Yaraslau Slavilouski (Harvard) FR

Brendan Furman (Cornell) SO

Zachary Knighton-Ward (Hofstra) SO

Joe Doyle (Binghamton) SO

Bobby Steveson (Minnesota) SR

Thomas Penola (Purdue) FR

Utah Valley's Tate Orndorff has been on quite a tear. He made the U23 World Team, competing overseas this summer placing 10th in the Greco-Roman World Championships. A scant few weeks later he beat two All-Americans in one day when he took out Lehigh's Jordan Wood and Tanner Hall, the latter of whom will be in Vegas with his eyes on a rematch. Orndorff's match with Wood can be found below. 

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Besides Hall, bent on revenge, Orndorff will have to contend with Mason Parris, who has been on a heater since the season began. Parris did not have the best postseason last spring as a true freshman, losing to Conan Jennings and David Jensen at the Big Ten Championship, and then to Matt Stencel and Sam Stoll at the NCAA Championship (hence the current ranking). However, Parris has already avenged his loss to Stence three times this year. Yes, the loss was thrice revenged in less than a month! 

Parris continues to refine his heavyweight game, getting savvier by the match. His fireman's carry is already one of the best in college and getting deadlier by the day. He may not arrive in Sin City with the highest ranking, but he's a good bet to head back to Michigan as a CKLV champ. 

Parris' collegiate rival to the south, Chase Singletary, has also been improving by leaps and bounds with each passing semester. Having Olympic bronze-medalist Tervel Dlagnev as a coach probably doesn't hurt. 

There are many landmines capable of tripping up the favored big men. I like both Harvard's Slavilouski and Hofstra's Knighton-Ward to do some damage and surprise some folks with their performances. 

Spey's Spredictions: 1) Mason Parris, Michigan; 2) Tate Orndorff, Utah Valley; 3) Tanner Hall, Arizona State; 4) Chase Singletary, Ohio State