Levi Haines earns trip to Big Ten Wrestling finals as true freshman

Penn State true freshman Levi Haines continued his magical first year on campus with a 3-2 win over Purdue’s Kendall Coleman.

Haines (22-1) burned his redshirt earlier this season and hasn’t lost since Nov. 13. He’s the latest true freshman to break out under head coach Cael Sanderson.

Now, he’ll wrestle for the conference crown against Nebraska’s Peyton Robb.

Levi Haines into the B1G finals tomorrow with the 3-2 win! Levi goes for the title on Sunday! #PSUwr

— Penn State WRESTLING (@pennstateWREST) March 5, 2023

Haines won 18 matches in a row including his win over Coleman, a former Big Ten finalist. At the time of his win Saturday night, Haines became the second Nittany Lion to punch his ticket to the Big Ten finals Sunday.

Haines’ only loss of the season came to Northern Colorado’s Vince Zerban in the Bearcat Open, prior to the staff pulling Haines’ redshirt for the season.

The Nittany Lion young gun has yet to lose a match against a Big Ten opponent and he’ll look to keep that streak going Sunday in the tournament’s final round.

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The 109th Big Ten Wrestling Championships were held from March 4-5, 2023, at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Mich., with the University of Michigan playing host to the event for the first time since 2010. All 14 conference schools participated in the championships, which began Saturday, March 4, with the first-round, quarterfinal, semifinal and wrestleback matches taking place during Sessions I and II. 

Action continues Sunday, March 5, with consolation semifinals and seventh-place matches getting underway during Session III and the first-, third- and fifth-place matches highlighting Session IV.