Penn State wrestling still might have Levi Haines back in the lineup next season, but the chances became smaller late Friday morning.
In Winse v. NCAA, the Tenth Circuit allowed the NCAA’s stay request.
That means that an athlete that graduated high school on 2022 (Haines) and has used all four years of eligibility would be ineligible.
Haines can still fight this by going after a temporary restraining order. He has not publicly stated whether he intends to return. Regardless of whether Haines is back for 2026-27, his legacy with Penn State wrestling is secure. He’s a two-time national champion (at two different weight classes), a three-time national finalist, four-time All-American and won the Big Ten Championship in each of his four seasons.
Ahead of Haines last national championships this past March, he reflected on his career.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.“I was up always getting ready for another tournament,” Haines told reporters at a pre-National Championships presser in Cleveland Wednesday– and through that, I was able to just keep getting better wrestling. Each match I treated as practice for my next one, and I think I made a lot of big gains throughout the summer, and I got to see some cool places, meet some cool people. So I think I’ve been ready since the senior worlds, and just getting better through every little piece of data collected through competing.”
He also made it clear that he’d stay with Nittany Lion Wrestling Club after his college career.
“Hopefully I can repay (Cael) a little bit, what he’s given to me, along with our other coaches,” he said. “Just look forward to hopefully being able to give back to him in some way in the future. I don’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon.”
