Evan Wick and Levi Haines will wrestle at Final X on June 14 in a best-of-three series to determine the world team member at 79 kg. Check out the article below for a full breakdown of the matchup, along with our predictions for how the matches will unfold. 

Key Credentials

Evan Wick

• 2025 US Open Champion 
• 2025 Pan-Am Champion 
• 3-time All-American (3rd in 2018 & 2022 at 165 pounds, 4th in 2019)
• 3rd Place at the 2020 Olympic Trials (at 74 kg)

Levi Haines

• 2025 World Team Trials Champion
• 4th place at the 2024 World Team Trials (at 79 kg)
• NCAA Champion (2024 at 157 pounds)
• 3-time All-American (2nd in 2022 at 157 pounds, 3rd in 2025 at 174 pounds)

Past match results

• 2024 World Team Trials - Levi Haines pinned Evan Wick, (5:42, 8-4)

Breaking Down The Matchup

Haines and Wick have only wrestled once in a match that ended in a pin by Levi Haines, but was much closer than the result suggests. In that match, Haines recorded a takedown and leg lace while Wick had two takedowns. Wick also held a 4-4 lead on criteria with only 30 seconds remaining in the match. At that point, Haines hit an outside step and used incredible power to finish with a feet to back that ultimately ended in a pin.

Coming into Final X, both wrestlers have a path to victory. Haines should be considered a slight favorite based on the head-to-head win over Wick. Haines showed in that match that he had success consistently getting to Wick’s legs. Haines will likely also have a strength advantage over Wick - that was displayed clearly in the way Haines was able to powerfully finish his leg attacks. At Final X, Haines should be able to get in on Wicks' legs with his outside step or his right-side single leg. Haines also has great counterattacks and has underrated par terre offense. Haines might be a relatively inexperienced freestyler, but that only means we should expect him to get better every time he takes the mat.

Levi Haines' win over Evan Wick at the 2025 World Team Trials:

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On the other side of things, Wick was only 30 seconds away from defeating Haines and looked great during his run to gold at the US Open. In the match against Haines last year, Wick successfully got in on Haines’ legs cleanly 3 different times and finished two takedowns. Wick also has high-level leg defense and is incredibly challenging to finish on because of his length. This was best seen in Wick’s US Open finals win over Hamiti, where Hamiti got in on Wick’s legs 4 different times but never finished an attack for a takedown. Wick has made significant improvements since his loss to Haines, and I expect the best version of Evan Wick to show up on June 14th.

Evan Wick's win over Dean Hamiti in the 2025 US Open Finals:

Who Wins At Final X?

With as close as their match was last year, no one should be surprised if this series goes to a third match. Haines and Wick are two evenly matched competitors, and I expect every match of this series to be a close one that’s decided by one or two exchanges.

Matchups like this make it very hard to predict the outcome. Despite that, I’m picking Levi Haines to win the series over Evan Wick. I do think that Evan Wick will take one match, but I think Haines’ power and finishing ability will be the difference in this matchup. I also think Haines is underrated both in his scrambling ability and par terre offense. Because of that, I think Haines is just a slightly more complete wrestler than Wick, and Haines will capture the world team spot at 79 kg on June 14.