Levi Haines opens up on beating Dean Hamiti in rematch at World Team Trials to punch ticket to Final X

Levi Haines got one back in the World Team Trials against Dean Hamiti, following their NCAA finals matchup. The Penn State star beat out the 2025 NCAA champion in the WTT finals and punched his ticket to Final X in June.

After haines lost to Hamiti in a Penn State-Oklahoma State matchup in the 174 pound semifinals in March, the ‘24 NCAA champion at 157 saw Hamiti win it all in Philadelphia. With the way Hamiti was wrestling, particularly under the guidance of head coach, and former Penn State star David Taylor, Hamiti was rolling.

But don’t forget, Haines learns and trains under an Olympic Gold Medalist himself: Cael Sanderson. So with the obvious out of the way, Haines knew there was a chance to get a win back over Hamiti and did just that, beating him 10-2.

“Yeah, obviously it felt good,” Haines said on Baschamania. “You know, I don’t know if it felt better than any other win. I think I was just more proud of the fact that I just kind of went in there and competed the way I knew I could, and made some small adjustments from the first match that we had wrestled. And I think I did a better job in this match of making in match adjustments. So being able to do that, I think it’s important, and just seeing that growth in myself is really, really cool to see, but also just believe in what my coaches are telling me and their guidance on how to get better. 

“So yeah, I really respect Dean. He’s a great competitor. Getting to toe the line against a guy like that is always really exciting for me. And I don’t think I mean, obviously I wanted to win that match, but win or lose, nothing really changes … so … competing to the best of my ability was a big difference in that.”

Haines will wrestle for the 79 KG spot on Team USA this year when he takes on Evan Wick (SoCal RTC). Wick wrestled for Wisconsin and Cal Poly and was an All-American in his own right.

Before embarking on his final collegiate season in 2025-26, where Haines will look to get to his third NCAA final and second title, he can achieve a lot on the senior level. He is one of six Nittany Lion Wrestling Club members wrestling in Final X and that doesn’t include Penn State commit PJ Duke, who’s still in high school.

Final X is set for June 14th in Newark, NJ at the Prudential Center. The finals in each weight for men and women will be best-of-three to determine the Team USA members and reps.