Life in Naperville was a little different during Rod Landorf’s time as a student at Naperville Community High School. There was one public high school in town, a school district that spread all the way to Farnsworth Avenue in Aurora, and most of the school district land was farmland; at the time, Naperville had a population of less than 10,000 residents. When Landorf entered Naperville High School with 220 other members of his class in the fall of 1958, he arrived with an outstanding group of athletes, including Ken Brown, John Clawson, and Bill Hoyt. Success on the field, in the gym, on the track, was almost inevitable.Naperville Community High School first started a wrestling program during the 1957-58 school year, and Coach Bob Funston created a program that saw success from the outset. Buoyed by an established athletic program with high expectations, Naperville’s wrestlers produced a 37-15 win-loss record in the wrestling program’s first three seasons. Rod Landorf joined the varsity wrestling team as a junior after finishing his sophomore season with a 24-0 record, including Frosh-Soph championships at both the Palatine Tournament and the Little Seven Conference Tournament. Landorf showed quickly he was ready for the move to varsity.Landorf’s junior year on the varsity mats was a successful one. He finished a solid 15-7-1, winning the Little Seven Conference individual title, before finishing third in the District and third in theSectional, one win short of advancing to the IHSA State Finals.Naperville wrestlers reached new heights during the 1961-62 season, as the team finished a stellar 16-1 in dual meet competition. Rod Landorf finished second in the Mt. Prospect Christmas Invitational, first in the Palatine Holiday Tournament, first in the Little Seven Conference Tournament, and first in the IHSA Sectional Tournament, which qualified him for the State Finals, alongside two of his teammates. It was the first time Naperville had sent wrestlers to the finals, and Landorf didn’t disappoint. Wrestling at 154 pounds, Landorf opened his 16-person bracket by pinning Jim Farley from Peoria Woodruff. Landorf then met Donald Carlson from Chicago Lane Tech and pinned him in 2:41 to advance to semi-finals, where he defeated Stuart Marshall from Niles East, 4-2 in overtime, to advance to the finals. Landorf’s exciting run would end there, as he was defeated 4-2 by Palatine’s George McCreery in the state championship match.Rod Landorf finished his senior wrestling season 27-4-1, and his varsity teams finished with a two-year record of 30-4, a remarkable accomplishment for a program that was just six years old. Landorf credits both of his Naperville wrestling coaches, Bob Funston, who he called “a great coach and a very good instructor of wrestling fundamentals,” and fellow Hall of Fame inductee Bill Young, “a very significant part of wrestling education, [who] assisted me in qualifying for the state tournament.”In direct contrast to what would come decades later, there was no specialization during Landorf’s era; there were games to play, activities to partake in, even songs to sing. To that end, in addition to being a decorated wrestler, Rod was a second team All-Little Seven Conference center on the conference championship football team. He also played four years of tennis in varsity doubles. That desire to pursue a long list of extracurricular activities is highlighted in Landorf’s advice to today’s athletes: “Ensure your experiences are well rounded. Enjoy sports and other aspects of school. Get involved, participate in new groups.” Landorf has maintained friendships with his ’62 classmates, as well as members of the other classes. He still knows and sees friends from school who live in the area and maintains regular Monday, Wednesday, and Friday golf dates with friends from his time at Naperville Community High School.After high school, Rod Landorf continued his wrestling career at Joliet Junior College before joining and serving in the United States Army from 1966-73. He attended Officer Candidate School and received a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant. He went on to earn the rank of Captain and became both a helicopter and fixed wing pilot. Landorf served one year in Vietnam and was awarded the Bronze Star, Vietnam Service Ribbon, the Air Medal with Five Oak Leaf Clusters, and the Good Conduct Medal. Additionally, he qualified as Expert Marksman with rifle, machine gun and pistol. On October 18, 2023, Landorf had the privilege to participate in the 112th Honor Flight to Washington DC in recognition of his service.After his time in the Army, Rod Landorf attended American Flyers Flight School and earned a Flight Engineer license on a Boeing 727 commercial aircraft. Because there were too many commercial pilots in 1973, he returned to Naperville to start Landorf’s Lawn Service, which he owned and operated for 44 years. All three of Rod’s children continued his legacy in athletics. Both his sons were four-year wrestlers at Naperville North, and his daughter was a four-year gymnast for the Huskies. Rod is also happy and proud that all seven of his grandchildren have been involved in sports over the years, five of whom have attended or will attend Naperville Central High School. While life in Naperville may look a little different today than it did in Landorf’s adolescence, what hasn’t changed is his heart for his community, his positive competitive energy, or his genuine, enthusiastic interest in the people and opportunities around him. That kind of sparkle and impact is ageless.