Critics can make the case for which of the NWCA All-Star matches might stand out next Tuesday at Penn State’s Rec Hall, such as the Noto-Ramos (125) or Starocci-Lewis (174) or even the Van Ness-Parco (149) bouts. But the 157-pound Haines-Teemer match has immeasurable entertainment potential.

So let’s attempt to measure it. That’s Penn State’s Levi Haines, the true sophomore who earned the preseason #1 ranking because of his Big Ten title and NCAA runner-up finish last season, against Arizona State’s Jacori Teemer, the fourth-ranked redshirt senior who is a three-time All-American and three-time Pac-12 champion and back at it after sitting idle for a full season because of injury.

Haines, a one-time Pennsylvania champ and two-time runner-up, has shown tremendous strength, and Teemer, a five-time New York state champ, is known for his slicks and quicks. But Haines can react and muscle out of trouble as well, and Teemer has more than held his own against seemingly stronger foes, such as well-known brawny boys Hayden Hidlay and Ryan Deakin.

So that’s a wash.

Haines has a relentless motor and displayed it while winning 25 of 27 bouts as a true freshman. He can get to the legs, use his strength to finish and do it again … typically way more than once. That might be advantage Haines since Teemer’s first foe since the 2022 NCAAs might be Haines if Teemer does not compete in Sunday’s ASU dual at Missouri.

Teemer claims that won’t be the case. 

“I feel good physically. I’m practicing fine, things are going my way in practice, so I should be ready 100 percent,” he said. 

His opportunity to get four or five warm-up bouts in at the Wranglemania and Journeymen Classic events last weekend in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was cut short out of the gate when he was pulled out of a match against Lock Haven’s Eric Alderfer because of a head injury.

No worries, according to Teemer. 

“Nah, I’m good,” he said. “It was safety measures they were just trying to do. I just got hit, my eye was blacked up; I don’t have a concussion.”

Neither is pulling much weight. Teemer said he’s handled 157 for three years and Haines cut short a rumor of heading up to 165 when he said last week that he didn’t grow as anticipated and is lighter at this stage than he was a year ago.

And neither one claims to know all that much about the other. 

“I attended the NCAAs, so I saw (Haines) wrestle a little bit because he was right in front of me,” Teemer said. “I only saw his quarterfinal match with (Virginia Tech’s) Bryce Andonian,” the NCAA quarterfinal bout that Haines won by fall in the third period after nearly being pinned himself in the first period. 

And Teemer laughed when he said that he thought Haines was indeed flattened. “That was the only match I saw him wrestle — other than that I don’t really look guys up; I don’t watch their matches,” Teemer added.

Haines knows that Teemer is older (and still has a COVID-allowed year of eligibility), although not quite to the age advantage that UNC’s Austin O’Connor had over Haines in the 2023 NCAA finals. 

“It’s a little bit different than guys I was used to wrestling with in high school and elementary school,” Haines said. “It’s neat to be able to wrestle these guys that I used to look up to at one point in time.”

Both coaches are high on their all-stars as well. 

“He’s Levi,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said. “He’s very consistent and he’s gonna give you his best effort every day, every competition, every practice.”

Veteran Arizona State coach Zeke Jones said Teemer only has to knock the rust off. 

“I think that'll come with some time, but he's got the gift and he’ll compete for a national championship this year,” Jones said.

If oddsmakers are looking for a crack in either one’s armor to make the bout more than a pick-em, it won’t be because of a lack of enthusiasm.

“Yeah, it's pretty cool,” Haines said. “I watched the event a couple of times when I was younger, and I thought it was pretty cool when they reached out; I’m excited to wrestle.”

Ditto, Mr. Teemer: “100 percent. I was grateful for the opportunity. I always wanted to wrestle at Rec Hall. So I was very excited when I got the text from Coach Zeke. I’m excited, I’m really excited,” he said.