Penn State wrestling star Levi Haines fell just short of a Gold Medal at this year’s World Championships in Croatia.
Haines went 4-0 Sunday to get himself in the championship match against Greece’s Georgios Kougioumtsidis at 79 KG.
Haines almost pulled this one out, too.
Down 3-0 in the final seconds, Haines got a takedown to make it 3-2. But it was too late, and as a result, the 2023 world champ and 2024 Olympian picked up more Gold.
Despite the loss, it was overall an encouraging outing for the senior. Haines went from being ranked outside the top 30 to coming within a whisker of winning the whole thing.
Haines’ most recent folkstyle season didn’t end the way he wanted it to. After winning the national championship at 157 pounds in 2024, Haines moved up two weight classes for his junior year.
For the first time in his career, Haines didn’t make it to the championship bout, falling to eventual national champ Dean Hamiti of Oklahoma State in the semis.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Haines ended up taking third, and now, with Hamiti and Missouri’s Keegan O’Toole out of the way, he’ll be one of the favorites to win it all this coming season.
Haines was one of two current Penn State wrestling members competing in Croatia this weekend, with true freshman PJ Duke being the other.
Duke went 1-1 Saturday.
Kyle Snyder, who wrestled at Ohio State, competed under Nittany Lion Wrestling Club.
Competing at 97 KG, Snyder wrestled Arash Yoshida in the semis late Monday morning and won. Now, he’ll be in the finals Tuesday.
