Proof that his wrestlers measure up does not always come in the form of pins or lofty spots on the medal stand.
No, coach Kyle Martin and his staff have raised a different type of bar at Norwin as they raise young men and women.
Ask him to project how the season will go and Martin might pull a reversal.
“No expectations from me,” he said. “Only focused on developing great human beings that just happen to wrestle.”
The Knights’ high-character program also has some mat strength behind it.
Landon Sidun won a PIAA Class 3A championship last season as a freshman and was the No. 1-ranked 113-pounder in the nation last season.
Sidun, who went 42-2 last year, did not compete at the USA Junior National Wrestling National Championships in the summer as he nursed his body back to health, but he appeared to be getting closer to full strength for the WPIAL and PIAA season.
“Landon’s progress is going well,” Martin said. “Big picture, everything we are doing is to set him up for success in college and international competition. He is moving up a weight for now and finding the best guys in the country to compete against. One of the toughest things to do in wrestling is repeat an amazing season, but his mentality and work ethic is unmatched.
“Whatever we do, we are going to have fun.”
Norwin’s other returnees include juniors Jack White and Luca Butera, seniors Gage Mamie and Nick Puskar, sophomore Brooks Blasko and freshmen Coleton Klipa, Nate Gulibon and Dom Butera,
Many in that group were freestyle national qualifiers at Fargo.
“We are young, and we have changed the culture of Norwin wrestling, and I think this season we will see it throughout the entire lineup,” Martin said. “Our team strength is resilience. Listen, wrestling is such a small part of who we are and who these kids are. We have non-negotiables that include attitude, effort, sacrifice and accountability. They have bought into this and that will be the strength of the team.”
Norwin has a stacked schedule that includes the Beast of the East tournament in Delaware, Powerade and a training session in the state of California that leads up to the Doc Buchanana tournament in Fresno.
“While out there, we are going to work out at Daniel Cormier’s and Robbie Smith’s, tour Stanford and depending on weather, sneak a day trip into Yosemite.
“It should be brutal, but also a ton of fun.”
Wrestlers adding depth to the Knights’ lineup include Nathan Klingensmith, Riley Shaffer, Tanner Shaffer, Santino Brasco, Billy Petko and Sebastian Summerville.
Norwin opened the season with an impressive 39-20 win over Canon-McMillan.
Norwin recently made it a clean sweep at the Springfield Duals, defeating Central High (73-0), Springfield Delco (50-9), Germantown Friends (54-6), Germantown Academy (44-25), Conwell Egan (44-25) and Springfield Township (65-6).
Norwin girls
With girls wrestling a full-fledged PIAA sport for the first time, the Norwin girls produced two WPIAL champions.
Josephine Dollman and Octavia Walker won titles and are in line to repeat.
Dollman is a junior, Walker a sophomore. Dollman finished 25-5 at 142 pounds.
Others to watch include sophomores Karsyn Champion and Avalin Barry.
“I’ve been impressed with the coachability of most of the girls, which is why they are getting success quickly,” Martin said.