Making The Case: Levi Haines will start at 157 for Penn State Wrestling

Making the case for why Levi Haines will be in the starting lineup for the Nittany Lions in the 2022-2023 wrestling season

In this preseason series we thought it would be a good idea to take a look at some interesting spots in the Nittany Lion wrestling lineup. More specifically, we’re going to make the case for several up-and-coming Penn State grapplers and how they fit into several spots leading into the coming year.

And before I continue, yes, I do know Cael Sanderson is still the head coach at Penn State. Because at the end of the day I would never question anything even remotely related to wrestling as he is a four-time NCAA Champion, Olympic gold medalist, and nine-time NCAA Champion while leading the Nittany Lions. And I’m just some guy who writes wrestling articles while listening to Ava Max and Metallica.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s take a look at Levi Haines and why he can be the guy this year at 157.

Making The Case: Why Levi Haines will start at 157 for Penn State this season

1. Who else do the Nittany Lions have at 157?

Prior to Brady Berge making his incredible return to Happy Valley late in the 2021-2022 season, and prior to Berge slotting down to his native weight of 157, the Nittany Lions trotted out a combination of Terrell Barraclough (seven matches), Tony Negron (six matches), and Joe Lee (one match) at 157. And this trio compiled a very pedestrian record of 2-12 in the 14 combined matches.

So not exactly setting the world on fire.

But to their credit, both Barraclough and Negron wrestled their tails off in every match they suited up for. Unfortunately for them the results just didn’t go the way they would have liked in the vast majorities of their bouts. Whether it was due to a lack of confidence, or a lack of skill, or a combination of both, it simply wasn’t meant to be for Penn State at the 157 weight class last year.

Circling back to the above question, who else do the Nittany Lions have at 157 going into this season?

Well for starters Berge has sailed into the collegiate sunset where his coaching whistle, shin-high tube socks, and grey high school BIKE shorts await as he continues his coaching career at South Dakota State. Tony Negron also left University Park as he is off to greener pastures via a transfer to Arizona State.

Which leaves both Barraclough and Lee as the only remaining Penn State competitors at 157 from last year.

I think everyone here knows where I stand with Terrell. I believe he has the potential to be a highly competitive grappler at the Division I collegiate level and it’s only a matter of time before he breaks out. But, I also believe he would be a better fit at 149 and not 157.

Which leaves us with Joe Lee. And look, I’m not going to mince any words here because I always write in the most succinct manner possible and I never, ever, babble on with run-on sentences and useless fluff*. If I poured myself into a wrestling singlet and toed the line against Joe Lee would he be able to break both of my arms Henry Creel-style without even toughing me?

Absolutely.

But has Joe Lee’s Penn State wrestling career rounded into a competitive one?

Not so much.

Which is exactly why Levi Haines will be the guy at 157 for this year!

* – currently the front-runner for the 2022 Lie of the Year