Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1539550
4 6 O C T O B E R 2 0 2 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M P enn State's Levi Haines is coming home with a silver medal from the Senior World Wrestling Champi- onships in Zagreb, Croatia. The Nittany Lion senior made the gold medal match but lost on Sept. 15 to Georgios Kou- gioumtsidis of Greece in the 79-kilogram (174.2-pound) final. Kogioumtsidis scored first after Haines failed to record a point when placed on the activity clock. He then added a step-out point to take a 2-0 lead at the end of the first period. In the second period, the Greek wres- tler earned a step-out point to expand his lead to 3-0, which proved to be the difference. Haines scored a late take- down, but Kougioumtsidis held on for a 3-2 victory, his second win over Haines this year. Silver is a tremendous outcome for Haines at his first World tournament. After starting out 2-0, he beat former champ Akhmed Usmanov of Russia with a last-second takedown to win, 3-2, in the quarterfinals and then dispatched Mongolia's Suldkhuu Olonbayar in the semifinals by a 4-1 count. Earlier in the tournament, Penn State freshman PJ Duke went 1-1 in the 70-kg (154.3-pound) class and was eliminated from medal contention. Starting out in the qualification rounds, Duke beat Shuang Chen of China by technical fall in his first match. How- ever, he wasn't able to hold onto a 4-0 first-period lead against Nurkozha Kai- panov of Kazakhstan in the next round. Kaipanov, the reigning Senior World 70- kg champ, came back to win by decision, 11-7, to advance to the quarterfinals. Kaipanov went on to win his quarter- final match but lost in the semifinals. That defeat eliminated Duke from the repechage rounds in which the winner of the bronze medal was determined. Former Nittany Lion wrestler Roman Bravo-Young, representing Mexico, tied for fifth at 57 kg (125.7 pounds). Lions Dominate USA World U23 Championship Team Penn State wresters claimed seven of the 10 spots on Team USA for the U23 World Championships, Oct. 20-27 in Serbia: 57 kg – Luke Lilledahl (So.) 65 kg – Marcus Blaze (Fr.) 70 kg – PJ Duke (Fr.) 74 kg – Mitchell Mesenbrink (Jr.) 79 kg – Levi Haines (Sr.) 86 kg – Rocco Welsh (R-So.) 92 kg – Josh Barr (R-So.) WRESTLING Levi Haines Earns Silver At Senior World Championships G R E G P I C K E L | G R E G . P I C K E L @ O N 3 . C O M Haines is coming off a junior season in which he finished third at the NCAA Championships in the 174-pound weight class. He's No. 1 in that class in InterMat's preseason rankings for the 2025 season. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS