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The All-330 projections are back for the 2023-24 preseason. The All-330 is a series of educated guesses on who will be the 330 wrestlers who make the trip to Kansas City, Missouri to compete at the 2024 NCAA Championships. So, how are these different than the national rankings, which go down to #33? There's a little bit of guesswork, projection, and opinion that goes into these, which is generally frowned upon with rankings. In some cases, we think a particular wrestler is poised for a big year (or not-so-big). Another factor for these is conference allocations. Right now we can just speculate allocations for each conference and weight, but you can get an idea of how many each league will get based on rankings. For instance, in a Big Ten weight class with 9 of the top-16 wrestlers in the country (157), you can also assume that the conference probably steals an at-large berth as a lower-ranked wrestler probably only needs one win to lock up a national qualifying bid. Wrestlers are listed by conference, in alphabetical order, based on school name, so they are not conference rankings. The good news is that if someone is not listed or in the "just missed" category, they have the entire regular season action to go, along with a conference tournament. There's still plenty of time left to change a narrative or impress the masses. 125 lbs This weight is sort of straightforward in some respects. The only significant difference between the All-330 and the rankings is true freshman Vinny Kilkeary for Ohio State. It isn’t set in stone that he’s starting, but of an intuition. 125 is the deepest weight class in the nation in terms of potential national qualifiers. In addition to the “Just Missed” list, there are maybe ten others that received serious consideration. This weight typically has young wrestlers who emerge early in their careers, so keep an eye out for Mendez, Moore, Jett Strickenberger, Sheldon Seymour, and Kyle Montaperto. One true freshman we aren’t waiting around on is Marc-Anthony McGowan, who looks to fill the shoes of 2023 NCAA champion Patrick Glory at Princeton. 133 lbs This weight was the best for the SoCon in 2022-23 and it should be again this season. It’s the only weight where we’ve projected three national qualifiers for the conference. With the bottom third of this weight being less stable than others, you may even see more from the SoCon. A theme in the next three weights is the options for Lehigh. We’re going with super freshman Ryan Crookham at 133, which bumps the two incumbents up, but we shall see! Also, be aware of a possible weight shift (in the opposite direction) for Indiana at 133. 141 lbs We’re banking on the ACC freshmen jumping in and making its 141 lb bracket even tougher than last season. Jack Gioffre had solid results while redshirting and Mac Church is a true freshman. He and fellow true freshman Hunter Mason are in the mix for the Hokies, while returner Tom Crook is still an option. However it shakes out, probably a good idea to pencil a Tech wrestler in at 141. We’re banking on a change of scenery and a less stringent schedule helping Jordan Decatur to get to the NCAA tournament for the first time at Kent State. Should our leap of faith with the ACC and Kent State not work out, there’s a pair of Big Ten wrestlers who could step in and qualify. 149 lbs This was the best weight in the MAC last year and most of those national qualifiers are back, giving them five qualifiers, which would be the best weight in the league. Additionally, there are three others from the MAC in the “Just Missed” category, so there’s plenty of talent there. Looking at the EIWA, Penn is expected to make a few changes from our rankings, which would bump Jude Swisher to 149 lbs. Little Rock is very high on their young talent and we have tabbed Kyle Dutton as one of those redshirt freshmen that could have a breakout campaign. 157 lbs The rankings do not include true freshmen until they actually take the mat so top recruit Meyer Shapiro wasn’t listed. He’s here at 157 lbs and we expect a huge year from him. Also in the EIWA, Lucas Revano is expected to drop down from 165 lbs. This happens to be the only weight class in the Big Ten where we’ve projected the league to send 11 wrestlers. That’s a lot, but at the same time, nine of them are ranked in the top-16, so that doesn’t seem like a far-fetched total. 165 lbs There isn’t a whole lot that stands out as unusual at this weight. NC State’s Derek Fields didn’t make the cut for preseason rankings, but NC State has a track record of coaching guys up, so it could happen here. The “Just Missed” list has three EIWA wrestlers, two of whom have qualified for nationals in the past, so there could be some shakes up on the East Coast. 174 lbs A handful of new faces bumped older, more established wrestlers out at 174 lbs. We’ve included true freshmen Brayden Thompson and Gabe Arnold. Both were highly-ranked wrestlers from the Class of 2023 who are capable of an immediate impact. From a redshirt freshman standpoint, the Big 12’s MJ Gaitan and Brody Conley are both ranked and showed promise last season. A veteran who wasn’t in the rankings, Travis Wittlake, did not announce his transfer to Oregon State at the time they were published. 184 lbs 184, like 125 lbs, is a weight with an inordinate amount of possible qualifiers considered. There are some legit names that didn’t even make the cut for “Just Missed.” Part of that is because of the faith we have in a trio of redshirt freshmen. James Rowley and Caden Rogers were not a part of the preseason rankings, but have a good pedigree, and should make an impact for their respective teams. Two-time U20 world medalist Bennett Berge, as well. 197 lbs This weight is pretty in-line with the rankings. One small addition was in the EIWA with Jack Wehmeyer. He changed weight mid-year and nearly made the tournament last season as a freshman. Of course, there could be a large elephant in the Iowa wrestling room at 197 lbs. Could 2021 NCAA champion AJ Ferrari join his brother, Anthony, and eventually, Angelo, in Iowa City? 285 lbs There’s definitely some good stuff at heavyweight. Nothing is set in stone regarding Iowa’s two-sport star Ben Kueter. If he does see the mat in 2023-24, even in a limited role, he’s a talented enough athlete and wrestler to qualify for nationals. Of course, we’re always wondering whether or not Gable Steveson will come back to the Gophers. For now, we have Garrett Joles in his place. One of their former teammates, Keaton Kluever, is tabbed to qualify though he wasn’t in the preseason rankings. Sticking with the Big Ten, Indiana has a pair of capable wrestlers at heavyweight. They could let Jacob Bullock redshirt while Nick Willham gets the call. This has the potential to be a good weight class for the MAC. Right now, we have two wrestlers included, but three others in the “Just Missed” category.