Bo Nickal sends warning to NCAA wrestling about Penn State's Levi Haines
Levi Haines had the biggest moment of his young career at Penn State when he won a Big Ten title over Nebraska’s Peyton Robb Sunday. Former Penn State three-time national champion Bo Nickal sent a warning to the rest of the sport about the young buck.
Haines is just a freshman and with his win over the previously top ranked wrestler at 157 pounds, he might be the favorite to win an NCAA title. The NCAA Tournament brackets have yet to be released, but Haines has a case to be the No. 1 overall seed.
Nickal joined The MMA Hour and detailed what he saw from Haines after the Big Ten Tournament.
“He’s a friggin’ monster, Levi Haines, true freshman, Big Ten champion, y’all keep your eye on Levi Haines,” Nickal said. “18 years old, competing against 23, 24 year old guys, just won the Big Ten Tournament, No. 1 ranked in the country right now and a Pennsylvania kid savage. Y’all keep your eyes peeled.”
Nickal was asked by host Ariel Helwani if he still helps the Penn State room train in the middle of his rising UFC career.
“I’m able to train with them,” Nickal said. “I’m able to help them and stuff. I just try to, more than anything, be a friend and talk with them. (I) give them insight into my mentality, how I approach a match, right? Because they know how to wrestle, right? These kids have been wrestling since they were in diapers. And so I’m just more like, to help them with how to handle the pressure and relax and do their best but yeah, like being able to do that and being able to just be around them, it still motivates me and lifts me up.”
Haines won 19 matches in a row including his win over Robb. His 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.
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.