Norwin freshman Landon Sidun gets back on track in PIAA Class 3A 1st round

By: Paul Schofield
Thursday, March 7, 2024 | 9:43 PM

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HERSHEY – Norwin freshman Landon Sidun couldn’t wait to be back on the mat after falling short in the Class 3A WPIAL tournament March 2.

Sidun worked on a few of his mistakes and came out on Day 1 of the PIAA Wrestling Championships on Thursday at the Giant Center with a new focus.

Sidun (39-2) recorded six takedowns in his first state match and rolled to a 12-6 win against Penn Manor senior Travis Clawson at 114.

The victory puts him in a quarterfinal match against the No. 1 seed, Pennridge senior Colby Martinelli. The Class 3A quarterfinals begin at 2:15 p.m. Friday.

“Landon is a little worried about his opponent and I’m sure his opponent isn’t excited to face Landon,” Norwin coach Kyle Martin said. “Landon is ready.”

Sidun said he was pleased with the way he attacked his opponent, especially getting six takedowns.

“I was very excited to get back on the mat,” Sidun said. “Last week was not my best performance. I was lucky enough to get right back out here. It felt good to get my takedowns in.”

While this is Sidun’s first high school state tournament, he’s shined on the big stage at Junior Olympic states and at nationals in Fargo.

“This is special because a lot of great wrestlers ended their high school careers here,” Sidun said. “It’s nice to be on the same mat. I can’t believe I’m here. It’s cool to be in the same arena where legends were made like Spencer (Lee).”

Sidun’s teammate, senior Nathan Campbell, advanced with a 4-3 win at 189.

Other wrestlers to advance include Latrobe junior Luke Willochell at 121, Hempfield senior Eli Carr at 152, Kiski Area sophomore Cooper Roscosky at 189, Penn-Trafford senior Hayden Coy (145), Franklin Regional senior Tyler Kapusta at 121 and Latrobe freshman Hunter Snyder at 172.

WPIAL champion Connellsville advanced four to the quarterfinals while Canon-McMIllan, Trinity and Thomas Jefferson each had two advance. There are 23 Class 3A wrestlers still alive in the winner’s bracket.

The four Falcons were freshmen Nolan Rice (107) and Kai Vielma (133) and juniors Evan Petrovich (145) and Lonzy Vielma (160).

Still alive for Canon-McMillan are senior Andrew Binni (127) and sophomore Collier Hartman (121), as are Trinity seniors Blake Reihner (139) and Bode Morgan (172), Thomas Jefferson juniors Maddox Shaw (139) and Bode Marlow (160), Butler sophomore Santino Sloboda (114), Central Catholic freshman Roman Thompson (189), Baldwin junior Ramil Islamov (133), Bethel Park senior Maosn Kernan (133), Pine-Richalnd junior Vaughn Spencer (172) and Ringgold junior Jake Conroy (215).

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.