Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1547542
4 8 D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 6 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M T he 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of the NCAA in an eli- gibility-related lawsuit that impacts athletes in the class of 2022 who did not redshirt during their four years of com- petition. That means two-time NCAA champion Levi Haines will not be able to compete for Penn State in 2026-27 unless he receives eligibility via a new and differ- ent legal ruling. Haines appeared to have wrapped up his college career when he won the 174-pound national title in Cleveland last March. But the NCAA changed its eligibility rules in June, discontinuing the model in which athletes had five years to play four seasons. Under the new rules, athletes will have a full five years of eligi- bility, starting with the current academic year. The change led to a wave of lawsuits from athletes who entered college in 2022 and claimed they were being treated un- fairly when the NCAA declined to give them a fifth year if they hadn't redshirted at any point in their careers. Haines did not join any of those suits, but a Colorado court ruling in July granted a blanket waiver for all 2022 enrollees to compete one final time. That made him eligible to return, which he and Penn State both wanted. The ruling was overturned in August on appeal by the NCAA, making Haines ineligible. But the plaintiffs in the case appealed that ruling to the 10th Circuit, which heard arguments in mid-October and issued its final ruling on Nov. 6. Haines could choose to file a new lawsuit at the federal or state level in response to the 10th Circuit's decision. With the Lions' season underway, that seems unlikely to happen. Coach Cael Sanderson spoke about the uncertainty of Haines' situation at the team's media day on Oct. 20. "We don't find out anything any faster than anyone else does," Sanderson said. "We read about [possible changes] in the news. … You just prepare, assuming you know what could or couldn't happen. "[Levi] is in class right now. He'd prob- ably rather not be in class, but he's pre- paring just in case he gets that oppor- tunity. Just like anybody else, we're just waiting to hear the final word. It's been a pretty wild five years of ups and downs and changes and twists and turns. But ev- eryone's in the same boat, and everyone's trying to navigate and figure out what they're doing. We're preparing, but we don't know any more than anybody else." Before the ruling, there was speculation that Haines would continue to compete in the 174-pound class if eligible, with senior Mitchell Mesenbrink at 165 and senior Tyler Kasak at 157. Now that the case has been decided in the NCAA's fa- vor, Mesenbrink is likely to move up to 174, with sophomore PJ Duke at 165 and Kasak at 157. NLWC Shines At Senior Worlds, Medals At U23s Levi Haines is a Senior World cham- pion. The Pennsylvania native beat Mo- hammad Nokhodilarimi of Iran in the 79-kilogram men's freestyle final, 4-3, on Nov. 1. The former Nittany Lion scored the only 2 takedowns in the match, one in Levi Haines Ineligible To Compete For Nittany Lions 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 After winning the 79-kilogram freestyle title at the Senior World Championships on Nov. 1, Haines had been hoping to compete for Penn State this season. But a judicial ruling in favor of the NCAA on Nov. 6 ended the two-time national champion's hopes of receiving a fifth season of eligibility. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS