Skip to main content
Penn State

What time will Penn State star Levi Haines wrestle for gold at Senior Worlds? Kyle Snyder rolls into semis, RBY goes for bronze

Greg Pickelby: Greg Pickel4 hours agoGregPickel
Wrestling: U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wrestling
Levi Haines (right) wrestles Alex Facundo (left) in a 74 kilograms in a preliminary match during the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team Trials at Bryce Jordan Center at Penn State University. (Mandatory Credit: Matthew O'Haren-USA TODAY Sports)

Penn State senior Levi Haines will wrestle for a gold medal today at the Senior World Wrestling Championships. The Nittany Lion was a perfect 4-0 on his first day of action Sunday in the 79-kilogram (174.1 pounds) division. He needed a late takedown to win his quarterfinal round bout opposite Akhmed Usmanov of Russia 3-2, but otherwise more or less cruised to his spot in the finals, including a 4-1 semifinal round triumph over Suldkhuu Olonbayar of Mongolia. Richard Immel recapped that match for USA Wrestling, writing:

“Haines gets strong with his defense and fights off a deep single leg from Olonbayar to keep things scoreless. Haines gets put on the shot clock 1:31 into the period. Point to Olonbayar after the shot clock expires. The 1-0 score holds to the break. Haines cuts the corner on a head outside single from Olonbayar and executes a crotch lift for two to take a 2-1 lead with just over two minutes remaining. Haines picks the right ankle and finishes to go up 4-1. We have a fresh start with 31 seconds left in the match. Haines moves to the finals with a 4-1 decision.”

Haines will face Georgios Kougioumtsidis of Greece for gold. His weight class is the third to go in Monday afternoon’s medal round session. It starts at Noon ET. However, based on yesterday’s results, we expect him to be on the mat sometime between 1 and 1:30 p.m. ET. However, he may be in action sooner than that. Blue-White Illustrated subscribers can get updates inside of The Lions Den forum.

Penn State Worlds recap so far

Haines is the furthest-advancing Nittany Lion Wrestling Club member so far. But, Kyle Snyder is looking to join him. The nine-time Olympic and World medalist is in the 97-kilogram semifinals later this morning after a perfect start to his tournament. He will face Arash Yoshida sometime after 10:30 a.m. ET for a spot in the finals.

“Snyder, a 2016 Olympic champion and two-time Olympic medalist, shut out his first two opponents with relative ease, going 10-0 over three-time Pan American medalist Cristian Sarco Colmenarez of Venezuela and 5-0 on 2024 Olympian Zbigniew Baranowski of Poland,” Richard Immel writes for USA Wrestling.

“Up next for Snyder is Asian champion Arash Yoshida of Japan, who has been equally as dominant thus far. The semifinal is a rematch from the 2025 Muhamet Malo Ranking Series tournament held in February, which was won by Yoshida, on criteria, 5-5.”

Former Nittany Lion Roman Bravo-Young, who competes for Mexico, will also be in action today. He goes for 57 kilogram bronze this afternoon as well.