NCAA Ruling Likely Closes Door on Levi Haines' Return to Penn State Wrestling

The top-ranked Penn State wrestling team learned Friday that two-time NCAA champion Levi Haines most likely won't return to the lineup. An NCAA's court victory regarding a five-for-five eligibility lawsuit means Haines currently is ineligible for a fifth year with the Nittany Lions.

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned an injunction in Wisne vs. NCAA, an antitrust lawsuit that sought to provide fifth seasons of competitive eligibility for college athletes left out of the NCAA's new five-for-five rule.

Thousands of Class of 2022 athletes were impacted by the suit, which sought to include them under the NCAA's new age-based eligibility model. Athletes granted injunctions under specific in-state lawsuits, like Penn State basketball player Josh Reed, remain eligible pending final rulings in their specific cases.

However, athletes like Haines, a four-time Big Ten wrestling champ, will not get a fifth season unless they file in-state lawsuits themselves. Haines has yet to do so, which makes him unlikely to compete for the Nittany Lions this season. Penn State opens the 2026-27 season Thursday against Bloomsburg at Rec Hall.

Unless Haines decides to sue the NCAA, Penn State likely will have a new wrestler at 174 pounds, where Haines won his 2026 NCAA title., That could be two-time national champion Mitchell Mesenbrink, who won the last two NCAA titles at 165 pounds but said recently that he is comfortable competing at 174.

"If it's 165, if it's 174, whatever," Mesenbrink said. "If it's 157, if it's heavyweight, whatever. So we're going to make the collective decision. ... Either way, I'm excited for it."

Haines was preparing to return for Penn State

At Penn State wrestling media day, coach Cael Sanderson was asked about the likelihood that 2-time NCAA champ Levi Haines gets a 5th year of eligibility.

“I don’t know,” Sanderson three times before asking the NCAA to enforce its rules. pic.twitter.com/Bb4ABmIXcl
— Mark Wogenrich (@MarkWogenrich) October 20, 2026

Haines, who recently won his first Senior World freestyle title, had been preparing to compete this season for the Nittany Lions, head coach Cael Sanderson said. He is enrolled in classes at Penn State and is training with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, albeit in freestyle.

"If he gets the call back to folkstyle, he's been wrestling folkstyle his whole life, so he'll be good to go," Sanderson said of Haines in October. "It’s not like he’s out in the woods hunting. He wishes he's out in the woods hunting every day, and he is when he can, but we’re not like calling him back out of the woods. … If he gets the call back to folkstyle, he’s going to be ready to go."

Haines went 26-0 last season, winning his second NCAA title to ostensibly complete one of the finest careers in Penn State wrestling history. He compiled a 99-4 career record, was a four-time Big Ten champion and four-time All-American and never lost a Big Ten match, either during the regular season or at the conference tournament.

Haines was the only starter who competed in his final year of eligiblity last year. Before the team's Senior Day match in February, Sanderson called Haines the definition of a Nittany Lions wrestler and clearly hoped he could return.

"We did our best to take good care of him, and obviously he’s taken very good care of us," Sanderson said. ... "You don't let a guy like that. We'll do everything we can to keep him here and keep him part of the program and training."

Haines recently was part of the NLWC's dominant run at the 2026 World Wrestling Championships in Kazakhstan. He was one of three NLWC wrestlers to win world titles, topping the bracket at the 79 kg men's freestyle weight class.

Haines, who lost in the 2025 gold-medal match, reached his second straight final with a strong through the weight class. He opened with a pin and technical fall before scoring an 8-1 decision in the quarterfinals.

Haines wrestled a tense semifinal bout, beating Mongolia’s Suldkhuu Olonbayar 3-3 on criteria. He won his first world title with a 4-3 decision over Mohammad Nokhodilarimi of Iran. Haines scored the winning takedown in the final 2 minutes of the match.

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