Penn State Wrestling’s Levi Haines Is a Force to Be Reckoned With
With the standards set by Penn State Wrestling coach Cael Sanderson over the past decade-plus, Penn State‘s 2022 recruiting class was rather ho-hum.
Based on FloWrestling’s recruiting rankings from the past 12 years, Penn State’s average class came in at 7.6. However, the 2022 group wasn’t even in the top-25.
The biggest reason for their drop in the rankings was that the class only contained two commits. Connor Pierce (141/149) came in unranked and Levi Haines (157/165) was listed as the No. 9 overall recruit.
But in the end, numbers are just that … numbers.
Because I think based on the results Nittany Lions fans have seen from Levi Haines the past two seasons, you could make a very good argument that he’s the cream of the crop in that class.
Recapping Levi Haines’ first two seasons
Freshman Year
Haines went from a true freshman showing flashes of dominance in both the 2022 Jonathan Kaloust Bearcat Open and 2022 Black Knight Invite, to being thrust into the starting lineup at 157 pounds. Keep in mind, every indication pointed towards Haines redshirting the 2022-2023 season.
Additionally, as a senior in high school, Levi won his divisions at the 2022 David Lehman Open and 2022 Edinboro. So the Penn State Wrestling coaching staff knew he was ready for collegiate wrestling. But why waste a year when the Nittany Lions had an experienced guy like Terrell Barraclough at 157?
Well, a lot can change in a short amount of time. Let’s flash forward to Penn State Wrestling’s dual meet against Iowa that year in the Bryce Jordan Center.
Making his sixth straight start due to a lingering injury to Barraclough, Levi was the guy hitting the mat opposite of Iowa’s Cobe Siebrecht. And after he knotted the 3-2 decision win, Haines firmly cemented himself as the Nittany Lions’ starter at 157 for the rest of the season. Because it’s very likely the outcome of the dual meet would have gone Iowa’s way had Penn State not gotten the win there.
Now flash forward to the semifinals in the 2023 NCAA Championships. Following an incredible pin on Virginia Tech’s Bryce Andonian in the quarterfinals, Haines was pitted against Big Red’s Peyton Robb. Two weeks prior, Levi topped Robb 3-1 in sudden victory to claim his first B1G title.
In most cases when an experienced wrestler loses to a young gun, the result tends to flip the next time out. But not this time.
Haines proved yet again that he was simply the better wrestler. And his 5-3 decision over Robb locked him into a finals matchup against 14th-year six-year senior Austin O’Connor.
Levi battled admirably, but in the end it was a battle between a kid and a full grown-up.
Sophomore Year
Haines plowed his way to his second straight B1G finals match last year. At that point Levi compiled a perfect 17-0 record and laid waste to a handful of ranked guys in the process.
And while the final was once again a tight battle, Levi Haines was a dominant force. With his 4-1 sudden victory over Michigan’s Will Lewan, Haines was 3-0 in the 2024 B1G Championships and outscored his opponents 21-1.
The same story continued in the 2024 NCAA Championships for Penn State Wrestling. Levi won his first four matches to the tune of 44-6 and this included his second straight fall over Andonian in the semifinals.
And it was all Levi Haines in the final opposite of Arizona State’s Jacori Teemer. Haines’ 5-0 win gave him his first NCAA individual title and the rising sophomore put the nation on alert for the foreseeable future.
What does the future hold for Levi Haines?
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During this past offseason, word out of the Penn State Wrestling room was that Haines would be bumping up. Which made perfect sense. Levi struggled times last year to make weight at 157 pounds.
But what I didn’t know, or even consider, was the fact he was looking to go up to 174. I immediately thought this would be a tough ask. Which is why even as recently as a month ago, I thought Haines would redshirt this year.
And even after a much broader and thicker Levi Haines took part in the 2024 NWCA All-Star Classic. I still thought he might sit this year out. However, his results on the mat simply speak for themselves.
Levi took care of business against the No. 3 ranked Cade DeVos (SDSU) 7-0 in the NWCA. And Haines has looked nothing short of spectacular so far.
He currently sports a 4-0 record between Penn State Wrestling’s dual against Drexel and the 2024 Black Knight Invite. But what’s even more impressive is the fact that Levi has yet to wrestle a match longer than five minutes and 13 seconds.
The results of these four matches are: technical fall, technical fall, fall, and fall.
Any hesitation I originally had about Levi bumping up to 174 pounds has evaporated. He looks great on the mat and his ease into this weight is honestly astonishing. And I don’t think there’s going to be anyone in the B1G or the nation who will stop him from winning his third B1G title and making the NCAA finals for the third straight year.
But, and this is a big “But”, this could be his toughest test to win another NCAA title. There’s a four-time All-American and back-to-back NCAA Champion in 2022 and 2023 in his weight class.
Missouri’s Keegan O’Toole is pound-for-pound one of the best wrestlers in the entire nation. And if he and Levi both make the finals this year? Whoa boy. Batten down the hatches and hide your kids. Because it’s going to be a showdown for the ages.
MORE: Penn State’s Bright Future at 197 May Already have Arrived
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Education: Penn State University
Location: State College, PA
Even though he had no prior journalism experience, Chris has now covered Penn State Wrestling and Penn State Football for the past three years, including as the Penn State Wrestling Beat Writer for VictoryBellRings.com, part of the FanSided network.
And it's clear he also likes constant torture as he's been a PSU Basketball fan for way too long.
Several years back, Chris made the seamless transition from PGA Professional to computer programmer and thoroughly enjoys following and writing about all things related to Penn State sports during his spare time.
- Penn State Wrestling’s Levi Haines Is a Force to Be Reckoned With - December 4, 2024
- Penn State Wrestling: The Future at 197 Pounds May Already Be Here - November 30, 2024
- Penn State Wrestling: **Revisiting** Who Will be The Guy at 157? - November 26, 2024