Blue White Illustrated

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED selects PSU One of the top junior prospects in the country, Solanco's Tom Haines, ith his 6-foot-2, 227-pound frame and thighs like telephone poles, Tom Haines has difficulty finding workout partners – at least among wrestlers who are close to his age. The quicker, more athletic wrestlers are too light. The big ones are too slow. The stronger ones, well, they're not quite strong enough. More often than not, he spends his practice hours drilling with coaches – full-grown men. He's just beginning his junior season, but sometimes he gets the best of them, too. "A lot of times I do end up wrestling coaches or college wrestlers," he said, "because a lot of people in my weight are just in-season wrestlers. It's just a lot easier to find coaches who are my weight and are going to give me a challenge when I wrestle them." Eager to push himself, Haines works out in the off-season with a former Army Ranger, driving at least 90 minutes from his hometown of New Providence, Pa., to Shippensburg just for the special attention. The young wrestling standout doesn't see it as an inconvenience. He'll go anywhere for a challenge, and that's one of the main reasons he recently verbally committed to wrestle for two-time defending NCAA champion Penn State. "I've been [at Penn State] before matches," Haines said. "I watch the warmups, and you can see they have multiple heavier guys. So I will have a lot of guys to wrestle with who will make me better. Plus, there's the coaching. Casey [Cunningham] is crazy good. "There's no way I'm going to have an easy day in there, which is a good thing." Cunningham, now in his fourth season as head assistant coach, has built a reputation as the most rapacious W TOP OF THE MORNING Haines, the best heavyweight prospect in the country, became the first 2014 recruit to choose the Nittany Lions. Tim Owen workout partner in the practice room, and he spearheaded Penn State's pursuit of Haines. Due to NCAA rules, head coach Cael Sanderson cannot talk to recruits until they are seniors, so Cunningham took the lead early. "It started out with a couple of emails," Haines said. "And he and my dad have emailed a lot. I emailed him from time to time. He's just a real cool guy, and I'm excited to wrestle [against] him, honestly." Haines said Penn State was always on the top of his list, so he decided to choose the Nittany Lions nearly a year before he can actually sign his letter of intent. He is used to being ahead of schedule, at least on the wresting mat. By the end of his sophomore season, he had already won two state Class AAA titles, first at 215 pounds, then at 220. If it weren't for fellow Penn State recruiting target Chance Marsteller, who won a state title as a freshman at 152, Haines would have been the youngest and heaviest wrestler to ever win a Pennsylvania Class AAA championship. Haines said he will go for his third state title at 220 pounds, before making the jump next season to heavyweight, the weight class at which he will wrestle at Penn State. Haines said the coaches want him to redshirt his first year on campus. Haines is the first committed recruit for the 2014 cycle. Marsteller, a junior at Kennard-Dale High in Fawn Grove, Pa., is already considered the best pound-for-pound high school wrestler in the country by FloWrestling.com, and he is at the top of Penn State's recruiting board. Kyle Snyder of Olney, Md., is also one of the Lions' top targets. He recently defeated Haines, 8-4, in the final of a preseason tournament, but Penn State is targeting Snyder as a 197-pounder. Sanderson has already secured three signed letters of intent for the Class of 2013: Zain Retherford (141) of Benton, Garrett Hammond (157) of Chambersburg and Matt McCutcheon (184) of Kiski Area. Devon Bentley (125/133) of Trinity, Cody Law (165/174) of Forest Hills and P.J. Steinmetz (197) of Council Rock South have verbally committed to walk on. All are Pennsylvania prospects.

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