An eerie silence fell over the crowd at Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center as Levi Haines slowly sat up and tried to shake off a blow to the head.

The Nittany Lion fans in attendance for Penn State’s season-opener had never seen their explosive 174-pounder go down like this, and after he lost his footing and fell face-first onto the mat just a second into his bout with Oklahoma’s Carter Schubert, they weren’t quite sure what to make of what happened.

Schubert, to his credit, eased up immediately and signaled for medical staff. Penn State’s trusted athletic trainer, Dan Monthley, was on the scene.

“It was scary,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said. “He was alert right away and I was just listening. That’s a trainer, doctor situation, but they determined he was ready to roll and he went out there and got a great match in and finished strong.”

After a few minutes in concussion protocol, Haines was cleared to return. He pinned Schubert in 4:15 for the lone fall in the Nittany Lions’ 45-0 win.

Sanderson knows, however, that injuries — and those specifically to the head — require monitoring after the fact. His staff would have to be considered among the best in the country when it comes to doing so.

Monthley, who has served as the team’s primary trainer since the 1990’s, has played a big hand in all of Penn State’s team title wins. He’s helped maintain title contenders through minor bumps, bruises, strains and sprains and even outright made it possible for others to chase titles after late-season injuries.

Five-time NCAA champion Carter Starocci made it a point to raise Monthley’s hand after Starocci won his fourth championship in 2024. Starocci, who had suffered a knee injury in the final dual of the season, injury defaulted out of the Big Ten tournament, then with less than a month of work with Monthley, went 5-0 as the #9 seed at nationals.

There are plenty more examples, notably Jason Nolf’s 2018 championship run on one knee after suffering an injury in late January that season.

“He’s a big-picture guy,” Sanderson said of Monthley. “He wants these guys ready for the moments that mean the most to them, and that’s obviously in March. So he’s going to make the right decision and we believe in that 100 percent.”

First Open

The Nittany Lions will take 20 wrestlers — two per weight — to Army’s Black Knight Invitational this weekend.

Penn State dominated the event last year with nine champions and 18 of 22 placewinners.

Tyler Kasak was among those champions with a win at 157, but with Kasak redshirting, the Nittany Lions will have a different look at the weight.

Joe Sealey wrestled in the Oklahoma dual and looked good doing so. He turned in a 19-4 technical fall over Landyn Sommer with Penn State teammate PJ Duke watching.

Duke is expected to make his debut at the Army tournament this weekend, and anyone expecting Sanderson to settle on a go-to 157-pounder this early will likely have to wait.

“We’re just getting started,” Sanderson said. “We just need to get some matches in. We have some really good guys there. At 157, Joe Sealey is outstanding. He’s one of the best wrestlers in the country, for sure. Very committed, hardworking, talented, just a great kid. We feel really confident in him wrestling for us.”

More Depth

Penn State has more than one heavyweight worthy of dual and tournament mat time, too.

Cole Mirasola debuted with a 5-2 win over a seemingly much-bigger Juan Mora last week, while Lucas Cochran, up from 197, tore up the Shorty Hitchcock Memorial Tournament last week with four pins.

“The Black Knight Open is always a deciding factor and depending on how things go there, then we’ll figure out what we’re going to do,” Sanderson said, “if there’s a next step or if there needs to be a next step in all weight classes.”

Blazing Debut

Freshman 133-pounder Marcus Blaze put on a show in his first match with four takedowns and a deciding tilt early in the third that pushed him to an 18-3 tech fall over Tyson Charmoli.

The four-time Ohio state champion had already earned the respect of the teammates he’s trained with the last few months, but seeing him do what he does in competition was eye-opening.

“I thought he looked amazing,” teammate Shayne Van Ness said. “I feel like for me, personally, and a lot of college guys, it’s tough to get turns on top, so to see him already have success with that early on was awesome.”