2022 NCAA Preview: 285 lbs.
Rankings are from the February 18th NWCA Poll.
| Northeast 1 | 3. Leka | Johnson & Wales |
| Northeast 2 | 15. Peavey | Southern Maine |
| Northeast 3 | Boisvert | Roger Williams |
| Mideast 1 | Marretta | TCNJ |
| Mideast 2 | Rubio | Ithaca |
| Mideast 3 | Behaeghel | Johns Hopkins |
| Southeast 1 | 13. Fulmer | Lycoming |
| Southeast 2 | Ramirez | Southern Virginia |
| Southeast 3 | Rodenhaber | Alvernia |
| Central 1 | 1. Bishop | Wabash |
| Central 2 | 4. King | Olivet |
| Central 3 | Miller | Albion |
| Lower Midwest 1 | 2. Reeves | Coe |
| Lower Midwest 2 | Bates | North Central |
| Lower Midwest 3 | Reyes | Millikin |
| Upper Midwest 1 | 7. Kim | Augsburg |
| Upper Midwest 2 | 5. Lemcke | UW-Oshkosh |
| Upper Midwest 3 | 6. Kawczynski | UW-La Crosse |
Max Bishop has worked his way up the rankings this season and finishes the regular season at #1. He has no DIII losses and is coming off a Central region finals win over #4 Donovan King to solidify his ranking as the NCAA tournament begins tomorrow. Bishop also qualified for the canceled 2020 tournament. Owen Miller, who finished third, qualified for Albion in their first season of competition.
Kaleb Reeves of Coe won the Lower Midwest region with four first period pins including one in just 59 seconds against Robby Bates of North Central. Reeves had a busy offseason where he qualified for the USA Senior World Team Trials in Greco-Roman. Gannon Gremmel, 5th in Division I for Iowa State last year, was almost part of this competition after enrolling in graduate school at Loras, but he was ultimately deemed ineligible for further college competition.
There were five ranked wrestlers in the Upper Midwest region, and the three highest ended up qualifying. Tyler Kim lost twice each this season to Jordan Lemcke and Ben Kawczynski but came back to beat each of them to win the region. The 2nd and 3rd place finishers in the Southeast region both qualified in 2020, but it will be a first trip to the tournament for John Fulmer, the champ from Lycoming. The top seed in the Mideast region went out with an injury in his first match, opening the way for the 5th seed Rubio to make the finals. The third place finisher Henry Behaeghel had a losing record in each of his first three seasons, but now he is a national qualifier.
There are three qualifiers from Maine in the bracket, and two are at this weight class. Jake Peavey finished in second place at 285, while Addison Boisvert of Roger Williams came back to get third. The third Maine qualifier is Colby Frost at 149 who went to Bonny Eagle High School, the same school as Messiah coach Bryan Brunk. The winner of the Northeast region, Liridon Leka of JWU, is not from Maine, but he is 33-0 so far this season.