Mundelein’s Kolton Sydanmaa, who has ‘vivid memories’ of a leg injury, makes quite an impression on the field

There are many ways to make a positive first impression, but Mundelein linebacker Kolton Sydanmaa’s opportunity was pretty cut-and-dried.

When the Mustangs’ coaches were measuring players’ speed last summer, Sydanmaa, a sophomore with just two years of football under his belt, clocked the second-fastest 40-yard dash in the program.

That wasn’t enough to earn a varsity promotion at the time, but Sydanmaa was on the coaches’ radar.

“I was aware that I was decently fast but hadn’t thought much more about it,” he said. “I wasn’t really expecting to be on varsity last year, so getting any attention was kind of a surprise to me.”

The surprises kept coming for Sydanmaa, who started the 2025 season on Mundelein’s junior varsity team. In the season opener, he racked up 21 tackles at linebacker and also made a touchdown catch. Meanwhile, at the varsity level, the Mustangs lost 42-13 to Grant.

“After Week 1, we figured we needed to get faster, and he fit the bill perfectly,” Mundelein coach John Cowhey said. “Even before the first game, he was giving us fits in practice.”

Minutes after the JV game, Sydanmaa was walking to his father’s car when Cowhey approached him and said the staff would like to see him compete for a starting job on the varsity team the next week.

“It all happened really fast,” Sydanmaa said. “The team we were playing the next week (Niles West) had a mobile quarterback, so I wasn’t sure whether they just wanted someone for that week or what. I went to practice the next Monday, and I guess I made an impression.”

Indeed, Sydanmaa never returned to JV, and by the end of the season, he had 60 tackles, one shy of the team lead for the Mustangs (2-7), with nine tackles for loss and two sacks, and he was named an All-North Suburban Conference honorable mention.

Entering his junior season, the 6-foot-1, 175-pound Sydanmaa is a pillar of Mundelein’s defensive packages, patrolling the middle of the field. There may be situations when he’s in the offensive backfield as well.

So Sydanmaa looks back on his first-ever varsity play with a chuckle.

“I was on kickoff coverage, and the dude was bobbling the ball,” he said. “I thought I had him lined up for a serious hit, but I whiffed on the tackle. That was my ‘welcome to varsity’ moment.”

There weren’t many more moments like that for Sydanmaa, who not only proved he could adapt to the varsity level quickly but also established himself as a known commodity in the middle of Mundelein’s defense.

“I feel it was a confidence thing, and I knew I could do it and I was up there for a reason,” he said. “It was partly because of my speed. I can get downhill pretty fast. But my IQ is pretty good, and I’m pretty comfortable in knowing what’s going on around me.”

Injuries are one reason Sydanmaa didn’t play football until he was an eighth grader. When he was 8 years old, he suffered a broken fibula and tibia in his left leg at a trampoline park over the summer.

“I still have pretty vivid memories of it,” he said. “I knew right away I had broken it. You could see the bone was out from where it was supposed to be, and there was a huge bump that was definitely not normal. I was mostly in shock and went right to the hospital in an ambulance.”

Sydanmaa had the first of two surgeries shortly after he arrived, and pins were inserted. He recalled moving into his living room when he returned home because he was so immobile.

Sydanmaa was able to play baseball the next summer, but years passed before he convinced his parents to let him play football.

“Growing up, I was pretty injury-prone, and that made them kind of skeptical,” he said.

Mundelein wide receiver Cameron Earing, who recalled being at the trampoline park when Sydanmaa got hurt, has been his close friend since early childhood and has watched him blossom on the football field.

“Last year, he was constantly making plays against us in practice, and he fit right in from the first day,” Earing said. “Now he’s always in the right spot. He just knows how to fill the holes and find gaps.

“Even if he doesn’t make the tackle, he’s making an impact.”

Sydanmaa wants to climb higher on the impact scale this season, which begins Friday, when the Mustangs will play Grant at home. He started the process by doubling down in the weight room during the offseason, and he joined the track team to get even faster.

“Track really helped with my speed and stamina,” Sydanmaa said. “I’m on the smaller side for a linebacker, but getting stronger will help, and in camp I’ve really been working on my footwork.

“Overall, I’m definitely proud of how far I’ve come and my journey.”