Penn State freshman Levi Haines stuns undefeated Nebraska star Peyton Robb in Big Ten Finals
Penn State freshman Levi Haines stunned Nebraska’s Peyton Robb 3-1 in sudden victory to win the 157-pound Big Ten title. The 2023 Big Ten Wrestling Tournament always provides big moments and Haines continued his magical first year on campus.
Haines burned his redshirt earlier this season and became a true freshman starter, which isn’t a rarity under Cael Sanderson. His clutch takedown gave him the first gold medal of his career.
After the two traded escapes in the match, Haines landed a nice counter and turned it into a takedown of his own to give Robb the first loss of his season.
Haines won 19 matches in a row including his win over Robb. At the time of his win Sunday night, Haines became the second Nittany Lion to win a Big Ten title in 2023.
Haines’ only loss of the season came to Northern Colorado’s Vince Zerban in the Bearcat Open, prior to the staff pulling Haines’ redshirt for the season.
The Nittany Lion young gun has yet to lose a match against a Big Ten opponent and he’ll look to keep that streak going at NCAAs, should he matchup against a conference foe.
The 109th Big Ten Wrestling Championships were held from March 4-5, 2023, at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Mich., with the University of Michigan playing host to the event for the first time since 2010. All 14 conference schools participated in the championships, which began Saturday, March 4, with the first-round, quarterfinal, semifinal and wrestleback matches taking place during Sessions I and II.
Action continues Sunday, March 5, with consolation semifinals and seventh-place matches getting underway during Session III and the first-, third- and fifth-place matches highlighting Session IV.