Penn State Wrestling Coach Cael Sanderson Admonishes NCAA to 'Enforce' Rules

STATE COLLEGE | While Penn State wrestling waits to learn whether two-time national champ Levi Haines can compete this season, head coach Cael Sanderson admonished the NCAA for not enforcing its rules.

Haines' eligibility status remains in limbo for a possible fifth season at Penn State while a lawsuit works its way through a Colorado appeals court. Sanderson said that Haines is taking classes at Penn State and wants to compete for a third NCAA title, but there's no concrete timeline regarding if or when he will be eligible.

Thus, when asked Tuesday about the likelihood that Haines will wrestle this season, Sanderson said "I don't know" three times. Then he sent a message to the NCAA.

"It would really be nice for college sports if, at some point, the NCAA can enforce rules and kind of have a say in what's going on," Sanderson said Tuesday at Penn State's wrestling media day. "It's pretty wild right now, and it's kind of embarrassing, I think. Maybe I shouldn't have said that, I don't know. But it's just like, 'What are we doing here, what's the standard, what's allowed, what isn't allowed?'"

Haines is among thousands of former athletes unsure whether they will be able to compete for a fifth season while an antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA is heard. In late July, U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney ruled that all high school athletes from the 2022 recruiting class who used their fourth, and until recently final, seasons of eligibility would be eligible for a fifth year in 2026-27. It was a sharp rebuke to the NCAA's "five-for-five" rule that excluded Class of 2022 athletes from being eligible for five years.

The ruling covered athletes in every sport, meaning Haines initially was eligible to compete as a fifth-year wrestler for Penn State. But in late August, the NCAA won a stay of the court's injunction, making those athletes ineligible. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver is currently hearing oral arguments in the case.

Michael McCann, a sports legal expert at Sportico, wrote in a social media post that he believes the NCAA will win the case and make those 2022 athletes ineligible. If he wants to wrestle for Penn State, Haines then would have to file or join a lawsuit in Pennsylvania, similar to the Ohio suit of which Penn State basketball player Josh Reed player is part. Though he's currently in eligibility limbo as well, Reed recently had 18 points and eight rebounds in an exhibition game for Penn State.

"Just like anybody else, we're just waiting to hear the final word," Sanderson said. "I mean, it's been a pretty wild five years of ups and downs and changes and twists and turns. But everyone's in the same boat and everyone's trying to navigate and figure out what they're doing. So we're preparing, but we don't know any more than anybody else."

'He's going to be ready to go'

Haines' potential return is a major storyline for Penn State, which brings an 86-match win streak into the season. The Nittany Lions are pursuing their sixth straight NCAA team title, and Haines would seek to defend his 174-pound title if eligible.

A four-time Big Ten champion, Haines went 99-4 in his four-year career at Penn State. With the opportunity to wrestle a fifth season, Haines could become the program's seventh wrestler to win at least three national championships.

Haines left Tuesday for the 2026 Senior World Wrestling Championships in Kazakhstan, where he's among the favorites in the 79 kg men's freestyle weight class. Sanderson said that Haines would be ready for the 2026-27 Penn State season quickly if he becomes eligible.

"If he gets the call back to folkstyle, he's been wrestling folkstyle his whole life, so he'll be good to go," Sanderson said. "It’s not like he’s out in the woods hunting. He wishes he's out in the woods hunting every day, and he is when he can, but we’re not like calling him back out of the woods. … If he gets the call back to folkstyle, he’s going to be ready to go."

Haines' status affects Penn State's lineup, notably Mitchell Mesenbrink, the two-time defending NCAA champ at 165 pounds. Mesenbrink, who did not compete during the freestyle season, said he is willing to wrestle at 174 pounds (Flowrestling ranks him No. 1 there) but is leaving all options open.

"That’s a possibility, for sure," Mesenbrink said when asked whether he would wrestle at 174. "If the best coaches in the world tell me, 'I think it would be really good if you go 157,' OK, how are we going to do it? And obviously they would never say something without a plan.

"... I'm going to trust them with whatever the plan is. And so if Levi gets the year back, it's like, OK, let's do it. It's great."

Added Sanderson, "I think the big thing we're just hoping is that at some point the NCAA kind of can figure out and have the ability to enforce the standard and rules so we know where we're at. That's the biggest challenge I think in college sports is, you know what are the rules, right? And if we're following the rules, are we at a big disadvantage?

"But our program has been blessed because we follow the rules, so it's one of those things. And everyone's going to say that, of course, so we'll find out. We'll see."

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