Inside Landon Sidun’s recruitment: On his Penn State wrestling in-home visit, decision timeline, future weight and more

Elite Pennsylvania and Class of 2027 wrestler Landon Sidun is hearing from some of the top colleges in the country, including Penn State, as he prepares for his junior season. The Irwin, Pa., Norwin standout won a PIAA title as a freshman at 113 pounds. He was en route to doing so as a sophomore at 121 pounds before a broken hand ended his season before he could carry his 30-0 record into the postseason. He’s back healthy now and has spent the summer training and working on figuring out which program he’ll wrestle for in two years as a new high school season approaches, with Super 32 now just a few months away.

“Health-wise, I couldn’t be any better,” Sidun said. “No setbacks with my hand at all. Training this summer has been the best it’s ever been. I’ve been wrestling a lot of higher-level competition and getting a lot of work in the summer.”

Sidun wrestles for his father Dave’s Hutchy Hammers club when he’s not learning and competing for Norwin head coach Kyle Martin, who is also Pennsylvania’s National Freestyle and Greco-Roman team and was named the USA Wrestling 16U/Junior Development Coach of the Year in 2025. Both, and those who help them with their respective programs, have helped shape Landon Sidun into MatScout’s No. 4 recruit in the Class of 2027. He carries a 72-2 record into the 2025-2026 season, per PA-Wrestling, and is No. 14 overall in MatScout’s pound-for-pound high school rankings and No. 2 at 126 pounds.

More: Penn State wrestling offseason roundup: What’s up with the Lions as August continues?

“It’s awesome because we get all the good kids from the area we all go into,” Sidun said about his dad’s club, where he gets to mentor his younger cousin Jett, among others. “We got this new building now where we get a lot of good scraps going in there. … “It’s just a fun environment.”

He added on Martin’s influence:

“I couldn’t ask for anyone else to be my high school head coach. He would do anything for me. He finds every little thing to help me out. He’s the type of guy who will take care of you on and off the mat. We have a really good connection off of the mat. He’s maybe the most generous guy in wrestling you’d ever meet. Just an awesome human being.”

The in-home visit portion of the recruiting process is underway

Sidun put out a top 12 list earlier this summer. Penn State is on it along with Iowa, Virginia Tech, Pitt, Minnesota, Ohio State, Nebraska, Cornell, N.C. State, Buffalo, West Virginia, and Oklahoma. He has had coaches from many of those schools in town for in-home visits this summer, which has brought some of the sport’s biggest names into his family’s living room.

“It’s crazy to think that you’re sitting across from all these great NCAA coaches, like, they’re coming here to talk to you because they want you to be on their team, which is unreal to me, because I feel like I just got to high school,” Sidun said. “I remember being like my little cousin just sitting there watching on TV. It feels so long until you’re going to be wrestling on that level. But I’m two years away, right?

“So, honestly, this recruiting stuff, it goes fast, but it’s super exciting that everyone’s here talking to you. It’s crazy. Like my sister, she’s even excited because she knows all these guys, because we sat her down, she watched all these matches, and all of them before. So everyone’s super excited about it. It’s awesome.”

Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson and associate head coach Cody Sanderson were recently in Irwin for a visit. The Lions have prioritized Sidun on their 2027 big board.

“It’s cool for them to come down and meet the family, see what the environment’s like at home and stuff,” Sidun said. “It’s just awesome to get to talk to the Sandersons, because Penn State’s been a dynasty for years now. It’s just super cool and exciting that they’re here talking to you. They just want to make a relationship with everyone.”

Breaking down Landon Sidun’s recruitment and plan

Sidun is long on the record as saying that he won’t rush his recruitment and that he’ll make his decision when he knows where he wants to go. That hasn’t changed. The plan now is to finish the in-home visit process, and then whittle his list down to the handful of schools he wants to take official visits to. After that, a decision could come in short order.

“I don’t want to waste anyone’s time, or my family’s time, and be like, ‘Yeah, I don’t want to go here,'” Sidun said. “So we’re going to sit down, talk to coaches, and we’re probably going to do maybe three or four visits.

“I don’t have a set timeline yet, but we’re going to weigh the decisions a little bit more before we go on our visits. Then after that, we’ll sit down again and we’ll figure out where I need to be.”

As for the weight he’ll wrestle at his future school, Sidun said each school offers its own pitch. But, there is little chance he ever goes above the two lightest weight classes that the NCAA have to offer

“If you see me in person, I’m not a big guy,” Sidun said. “I’ve been wrestling around the same weight for a while. My family, everyone’s small. I’m bigger than my mom, I’m close to my dad’s size, so I’d say I’m almost maxed out. I see myself as a ’25 pounder, but I would never say to someone like, ‘Hey, I’m going to be a four-year 25. But I would never see myself wrestling above 33. But, to me, there’s a good chance I’m gonna be a four-year 25.”

He said it

Sidun, on what fans should know about him that they might not:

“You’re going to see the best out of me every time. I’m a mat junkie, like, I’m always wrestling. I’m not going to be the guy in trouble. So, I just live wrestling.”