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Penn State Wrestling: Top 2022 commit training with David Taylor

By Chris Snyder

TOKYO, JAPAN - AUGUST 05: David Taylor of United States celebrates his gold medal after competing against Hassan Yazdani of Iran during the Men's Freestyle 86kg wrestling final match during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan on August 5, 2021. (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
TOKYO, JAPAN - AUGUST 05: David Taylor of United States celebrates his gold medal after competing against Hassan Yazdani of Iran during the Men's Freestyle 86kg wrestling final match during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan on August 5, 2021. (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) /
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Recent 2022 Penn State Wrestling  commit Levi Haines is gearing up for his senior season under the tutelage of gold medalist David Taylor

What better way to begin your final season in high school than to start your pre-season training with Penn State Wrestling legend and newly crowned Olympic gold medalist, David Taylor?

FloWrestling was recently following around Haines as part of their “Who’s Number One” series which features the best of the best in high school wrestling.

And speaking of best of the best, Levi Haines was recently ranked as the No. 13 wrestler in FloWrestling’s Pound for Pound ranking*. And to be the best you have to beat the best, which is exactly why Haines leaves the friendly confines of Biglerville daily for the commute up to Centre County.

There’s probably a pretty good reason why any sane person would want to spend four hours in a car each day.

And yeah, there is, as David Taylor was back in the State College area recently to help train a group of top Pennsylvania high school wrestlers at his M2 Training Center in nearby Pleasant Gap.

Oh, and he and his loaded golf team were also in town to win the 2021 Nittany Lion Wrestling Club Golf Classic. But wrestlers don’t care about golf, right?

Anyway, back to wrestling.

The FloWrestling series provided numerous videos which included Taylor addressing the wrestlers, mat drills, and Haines opening up about his daily routine, his time training with Taylor, and how he’s embraced the gold medalist’s wrestling style.

Talking about his experiences at M2, Levi added “I came up the first day and wrestling here is different than what I was used to. I used to be a guy who would just grind people out, and win close matches against good guys. But then I came here and, you know, we score lots of points and we’re majoring and tech falling those really good guys. And that really drew my attention in. And I was like ‘Aw man, that’s way cooler than just winning a 4-3 match’.”

Haines went on to explain how the philosophies he’s learned under the guidance of Taylor are more efficient and easier than the grinding approach he used to employ. Which is a scary thought considering how good Levi was prior to this new mindset.

And this is obviously great news for Penn State wrestling fans as the future continues to look bright. I for one can’t wait to see Haines in the blue and white and tech falling people with the words “IOWA” on their singlet.

* – This ranking comprises all of the current high school grapplers and not just the class of 2022 commitments.

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