AAA quarterfinal wrestling
Two-time defending state champion Thomas Haines, Solanco lefts Michael Boykins, Coatesville in their 220lb match at the PIAA State Wrestling Championship quarterfinal round at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pa. Haines won 4-1. Mark Pynes | mpynes@pennlive.com
Cael Sanderson’s Penn State wrestling recruiting plate is no longer as full as it once was when it comes to incoming freshman for 2014.
Three-time PIAA champion Thomas Haines of Solanco in Lancaster County has reneged on the verbal commitment he gave Penn State last November, according to flowrestling.org editor Willie Saylor, who reported the news Monday afternoon.
Haines, who can become a rare four-time PIAA champ next March, has won titles at 215 (1) and 220 (2). But when Penn State recruited another top-notch upperweight, Nick Nevills of Clovis, Calif., last week, Haines opted to open the recruiting process.
When Haines verbaled last fall, he had taken no official visits. His phone undoubtedly will be buzzing this week.
Thomas Haines of Solanco, a three-time PIAA wrestling champion, has opted to not honor his verbal commitment to Penn State.
The Haines story lit up chat boards with Penn State fans and wrestling fans in general simultaneously offering support to and pitching venom at Haines, who is ranked as one of the country’s very best wrestlers. Some posters questioned Sanderson for pulling in two similarly ranked heavyweights.
Sanderson also landed Kennard-Dale senior Chance Marsteller, the nation’s top-ranked high school wrestler last Thursday. Marsteller also will be scheduled to enroll in 2014.
Haines’ father, David, told flowrestling.org’s Saylor that he “thought Cael looked on him favorably. But we understand that’s the nature of recruiting; one door closes, another one opens.”
David Haines said the recruiting door has been re-opened.
Elsewhere on the recruiting front, Amateur Wrestling News has listed rising junior Steven Alvarado of Carmel Catholic High School in North Barrington, Ill., as a 2015 verbal commit to Penn State.
Alvarado is not listed on any web site scholastic rankings boards. He is projected at 197 or heavyweight; he is also a member of his school’s golf team.