Pennsylvania wrestler Landon Sidun named SBLive national champion at 113 pounds
Much like our No. 1 at 106, Joey Bachmann of Pennsylvania's Faith Christian Academy, Landon Sidun came into high school as a decorated junior league wrestler and backed up the hype at Super 32. Sidun did not win the crown there, dropping a match to No. 8 Dom Munaretto (St. Charles East, IL), and placed third at 113.
At S32, the Norwin grappler beat JoJo Uhorchuck (Signal Mountain, TN), who is No. 11 at 120, twice and hung losses on No. 19 Brock Rothermel (Line Mountain, PA) and another wrestler who ended up at 126, Honorable Mention Jermaine “JJ” Peace (Cane Bay, SC).
Norwin High freshman Landon Sidun is the 2023-24 SBLive Sports 113-pound National Wrestling Champion.
Sidun also has a Middle School Super 32 title belt amongst his accolades.
The Beast of the East was Sidun’s first real in season test and he came in third there at 120-pounds with a loss to Quakertown's (Pennsylvania) Mason Ziegler (No. 21 at 120). The freshman did author wins over No. 18 Keanu Dillard (Bethlehem Catholic, PA), No. 19 Lukas Littleton (Malvern Prep, PA), and Honorable Mention Mason Jakob (Dobyns Bennett, TN).
At PowerAde, Sidun captured his first major high school tournament title with an overtime win versus No. 2 Ayden Smith (Notre Dame-Green Pond) after dropping to 114-pounds Sidun also took out No. 5 Davis Motyka (Wyoming Seminary, PA) and No. 12 Ethan Timar (St. Edward, OH) at PowerAde.
Sidun settled in at No. 1 at 114 and was on a roll when he was surprised by No. 19, at the time, Santino Sloboda (Butler) in the AAA Southwest Region finals.
The Knight brushed that loss off as he stepped onto the floor of the Giant Center in Hershey, PA for his first taste of that treacherous gauntlet. Sloboda couldn’t handle the glare of the spotlight and tumbled to the sixth spot on the podium and now resides in our honorable mention section.
Sidun, though, excelled, getting past Honorable Mention Gabe Ballard (Northampton), and then defeating Ridley’s Curtis Nelson in the finals to finish his inaugural high school campaign with a 38-2 record . Nelson handed Sloboda his first loss of the year in the semis.
Over the spring and summer as an eighth grader, Sidun was third at the US Open U17 Freestyle Tournament, splitting matches with Ayden Smith, and picking up wins over No. 21 Aydan Thomas (Stillwater, OK) and Jake Knight (Bettendorf, IA – Honorable Mention at 120).
Sidun went on to claim a 16U Freestyle title at Fargo with a win over Uhorchuck and tech fall of Honorable Mention Isaiah Harrison (Mountain View, CO).
Ayden Smith, a senior, won an AA state title last year and repeated the feat this year with wins over No. 23 Will Detar (Trinity) and Rothermel.
Smith was fifth at Super 32 at 113 being pinned by Uhorchuck and losing to Aaron Seidel (North Lebanon, PA – No. 5 at 120). Smith beat Thomas and National Prep runner-up Matthew O’Neill (Malvern Prep, PA), who is not in the rankings as he was an eighth grader with limited high school exposure this year.
The Crusader was third at Ironman, losing to Motyka and beating No. 6 Revin Dickman (Brownsburg, IN). Smith won the Beast at 113 avenging his earlier loss to Uhorchuk in the finals.
At PowerAde Norwin's Landon Sidun captured his first major high school wrestling title. He went on to finish the season with a 38-2 record and a Pennsylvania state title, as well as well as the No. 1 ranking in the final 2023-24 SBLive 113-pound national rankings.
At PowerAde, Smith was second with a win over World Champion, No. 4 Paul Kenny (Christian Brothers Academy, NJ). The Crusader again beat Kenny to claim glory at Escape The Rock.
Mt. Olive’s Tyeler Hagensen spent most of the season at 120lbs but came down at the end and made a splash at the New Jersey state tournament, winning it all and picking up a win over Kenny to move into the No. 3 position of our rankings. Kenny came back for third at the states.
At PowerAde, Kenny was third, bouncing back after the loss to Smith to defeat Motyka in the consolation final.
Motyka won Ironman putting wins over Smith, Dickman, No. 9 Grey Burnett, and Hunter Taylor (Liberty, MO – HM at 120) in the books. After placing fourth at PowerAde, the senior’s next big accomplishment was winning his second consecutive National Prep title.
