How big are the big guys at the 2019 NCAAs?

Photo: Penn State’s Anthony Cassar and Minnesota’s Gable Steveson are seeded second and third at the 2019 NCAAs after reaching the Big Ten finals two weeks ago. The Nittany Lion weighed in at 228.2 pounds while the Gopher checked in at 257.8 two hours before the start of nationals in Pittsburgh. (Photo by Ginger Robinson)By Mike Finn

Once upon a time, the heaviest weight class was called unlimited. Now the heavyweight class is limited to 285 pounds, but few big men competing in the 2019 NCAAs in Pittsburgh come close to that weight limit.

The average weight among the 33 competitors is 249.5 pounds.

According to the official weigh-ins that took place Thursday morning two hours before the start of the first round, the heaviest wrestlers is Northwestern’s Conan Jennings, who checked in at 284 pounds, followed by Drexel’s Joey Goodhart (278.4), Iowa’s Sam Stoll (277), Nebraska’s David Jensen (276.6) and Central Michigan’s Matt Stencel (273.2)

The lightest wrestlers at the 285-pound weight class are Purdue’s Jacob Aven (217.6), Missouri’s Zach Elam (226.6), Penn State’s Anthony Cassar (228.2), and Ohio State’s Chris Singletary and Stanford’s Hayden Maley (229.2).

Aven, who was listed as an alternate to the 2019 NCAAs, earned a spot in this year’s tournament when Buffalo’s Jake Gunning was forced to withdraw because of injury.

Meanwhile, top-seed Derek White of Oklahoma State weighed in at 240.8 pounds, while Minnesota’s No. 3 seed Gable Steveson checked in at 257.8 pounds.

Among the most historic battles when there was no weight limit at heavyweight came in 1984 when NC State’s Tab Thacker weighed 407  and defeated 340-pound Gary Albright of Nebraska, 3-1, at the Meadowlands in New Jersey.