Breaking down the 2022 NCAA Wrestling Brackets: 165-Pounds

Published Mar 17, 2022

Breaking down the 2022 NCAA Wrestling Brackets: 285-Pounds

Lex Knapp

Wrestling Analyst

With the 2022 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships coming up this weekend, Rivals wrestling analyst Lex Knapp has decided to go one by one in each weight class offering his predictions and a breakdown of the top and bottom halves of the bracket.

With that being said, let's take a look at the 285-pound bracket.

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THE TOP SEED -- Gable Steveson

THE DARK HORSE -- No. 4 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State)

THE NITTANY LION – No. 4 Greg Kerkvliet

TOP HALF OF BRACKET.....

I think we all know who is making it out of this side – Gable Dan Steveson. Not much more to say than that. Steveson has been a pleasure to watch, and will go down as one of the most dominant wrestlers of all time. No one has been able to touch the WWE bound Steveson, and you can guarantee the heavyweight field will not be sad to see him go.

BOTTOM HALF OF BRACKET....

There are four legitimate contenders down low, with Cohlton Schultz being one of them. Schultz is a perfect 18 – 0, and aside from an overtime match with Jordan Wood, has not been pushed a whole lot this season. Schultz will likely have to get by the 2021 finalist, Mason Parris, who sits at the seven seed. A quarterfinal match between Tony Cassioppi and Jordan Wood could be one of the more fun matches in this bracket. Cassioppi was pretty dominant over the Big Ten heavyweight division, aside from Gable Steveson of course, and could very well come out of this half of the bracket. Jordan Wood, who dropped a one-point decision to Cassioppi, has the potential of upsetting Cassioppi and Schultz, making a run to the finals. I like Cassioppi to meet Schultz, with Schultz coming out on top. Schultz defeated Cassioppi twice at last year’s national tournament, and I like him to pick up the win here as well.