Podcast Episodes

Levi Haines on Final X, NCAA Battles, and the Culture at Penn State

Published May 22nd, 2025 by Justin Basch

In his first appearance on Baschamania, Penn State’s Levi Haines joins the show fresh off a World Team Trials win to talk about his dominant performance, what it means to be heading to Final X, and how it felt getting revenge on Dean Hamiti. We break down Levi’s incredible first three years at Penn State — including three Big Ten titles, a 73–4 record, and finishes of 2nd, 1st, and 3rd at the NCAA Championships. Levi opens up about leadership, faith, gratitude, and the elite culture inside the Penn State and NLWC room, plus his thoughts on social media, NIL, and who’s the better outdoorsman — him or Josh Barr.

TIMESTAMPS

01:00 - Winning the World Team Trials
05:00 - Beating Hamiti in the Finals
07:00 - Opposing David Taylor
11:15 - Placing 1st, 2nd & 3rd at NCAA’s
16:45 - Learning The Most From Loss
18:00 - Moving Up Two Weight Classes
19:00 - Winning 3 Big Ten Titles
21:00 - Winning Team Titles vs Individual Titles
24:00 - The Depth at Penn State
28:40 - The Penn State Coaches & Leadership
31:00 - Having No Off Switch
35:00 - Importance of Family
39:15 - Stepping Up into Leadership
42:00 - Penn State Culture & Gratitude
47:00 - Growing in His Faith
49:00 - Plans for Social Media
53:30 - Perspective Heading into Final X
54:30 - Rapid Fire Fan Questions

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