What Would Mendez and Haines' Return Look Like?

The ever-evolving saga of NCAA eligibility rules, took another twist over the weekend as a District Court judge in Colorado ruled that student-athletes from the high school Class of 2022, who never redshirted, would be eligible for the 2026-27 school year.

This ruling comes after the unveiling of the new five-for-five eligibility rule, where student-athletes have five years of eligibility, but will not be granted redshirts along the way.

The NCAA is looking to fight this ruling noting the chaos that it could cause with undrafted athletes potentially returning to college. That, combined with incoming freshmen and transfers, could wreak havoc on college coaches around the country.

So, how does this impact wrestling? Not as much as football and basketball. After this ruling, the “Seton Hall Pirate” investigated and found eight DI national qualifiers who fit the criteria of graduating high school in 2022 and never redshirting in college.

Dyson Dunham (VMI), Wolfgang Frable (Army West Point), Levi Haines (Penn State), Jesse Mendez (Ohio State). Blake Schaffer (Kent State), Alex Semenenko (Brown), Jordan Soriano (Drexel), and Ryan Vigil (VMI).

The two names that stick out like a sore thumb are Haines and Mendez. Could they really return in 2026-27? If so, what would that look like for their respective teams?

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