2010 Weight Class Preview: 285

Qualifiers at 285
Returning qualifiers in italics, All-Americans in bold, any year:
Kyle Bilquist (Delaware Valley)
Ed Broderick (TCNJ)
Mark Corsello (Elmhurst)
Brock Glotfelty (McDaniel)
John Helgerson (Wartburg)
Dan Laurent (UW-La Crosse)

Joe Murphy (Cortland)
Allyn Plattner (Luther)
Jamison Sacco (Western New England)
Adam Salyers (Wilmington)
Mitch Sander (Coe)
Jon Schmidt (UW-Whitewater)
Adam Sutter (Lakeland)
Andy Witzel (Augsburg)

All eight All-Americans from last year return at this weight, and that should make for a great tournament.  Just as last year, the 2x defending champ will not be the top seed.  Dan Laurent of La Crosse hopes to repeat last year’s performance and win the tournament from the bottom half of the bracket.  He deserves his #3 seed, having lost head to head to both #1 Mark Corsello of Elmhurst and #2 Kyle Bilquist of Delaware Valley.  Corsello was Laurent’s finals opponent last season and defeated him in the finals at Wheaton, using two stalling points and a last second escape to get the win.  Bilquist lost to Corsello in the tiebreaker in the semifinals last year and had beaten Laurent in the regular season last year as well.  Bilquist ended up fourth, losing to John Helgerson of Wartburg in the consolation finals.  Helgerson was the likely #4 seed at 285 until the IIAC tournament Luther’s Allyn Plattner came to the tournament and defeated Helgerson and All-American Mitch Sander of Coe to earn the fourth seed here.  He will be the only seeded wrestler who was not an All-American last  year.

The three remaining All-Americans at this weight are Great Lakes runner up Adam Sutter of Lakeland, his Great Lakes semifinal opponent Andy Witzel of Augsburg, and Centennial champ Brock Glotfelty.  Glotfelty is the odd man out in the seeding, and he has drawn Laurent in what should be a tough first round match for both wrestlers.  Ed Broderick of TCNJ was a qualifier last year at 197, and Empire champ Joe Murphy of Cortland is the last returning qualifier in a deep weight.  Freshman Jamison Sacco of WNEC is 25-1 against lesser competition than most at this weight, but he does have 19 of his 25 wins by fall.  With so much experience in the bracket and no overwhelming favorite, each wrestler in this bracket needs to have two great days in order to bring home the title.

Seeds
1. Corsello
2. Bilquist
3. Laurent
4. Plattner
5. Helgerson
6. Sutter
7. Sander
8. Witzel