For the first time in the wildly successful Cael Sanderson era, a Michigan wrestler will have a shot at cracking Penn State's lineup.

Since Sanderson became head coach prior to the 2009-10 season, the Nittany Lions have captured eight NCAA championships, including the last four. During that time, however, the program has not signed any wrestlers from the Great Lakes State in its effort to sustain that success.

Until now.

Lowell's Austin Boone, second-highest ranked unsigned grappler on the 2020 Big Board, signed with Penn State while flanked by his parents on Jan. 29. The three-time state champion is ranked second in the nation at 145 pounds and was No. 39 on the latest Big Board. 

Excelsior, California's Jesse Vasquez (No. 13) is the highest-ranked unsigned Class of 2020 member.

Boone is unbeaten this season and boasts a 141-8 career record. He is the only Michigan senior who has signed with a school that made the top five at last year's NCAA Championships. 

He became the fifth member of Penn State's recruiting class after picking the Nittany Lions over Oklahoma.

"What started out as a fun sport to try back in 2008 has turned into our oldest boy signing his National Letter of Intent today to attend and wrestle for the Penn State Nittany Lions," Boone's mother Stefanie posted on Facebook the day he signed. "Austin wouldn't be where he is today without the help and guidance of SO many!! Thank you all -- family, friends, coaches, teammates, and (others) -- for supporting Austin and our crazy wrestling family all these years!"

Boone with his family committing to PSU.

Stefanie Boone also posted a photo of a six-year-old Austin posing with Sanderson at an Iowa State camp in the summer of 2008 when he was still the Cyclones’ head coach.

Boone is projected to wrestle at 149 and 157 pounds in college, but his odds of becoming a lineup mainstay appear better at 157 where current starter Bo Pipher, a junior, is 9-10 this season and has a 26-29 career record. 

However, Brady Berge is the one Boone will likely have to challenge one day. Injuries have limited Berge, a sophomore, to one match this season, but he was 20-5 last year, including a 2-2 mark at the 2019 NCAA Championships.

That's not what is on Boone's mind these days, though. He has plenty of unfinished high school business to attend to.

Boone can become the Red Arrows' second four-time state champion, joining Joe Mendez (2002-05). If he succeeds and Lowell wins a seventh straight Division 2 team state title, he would join Davison and Iowa legend Brent Metcalf (2002-05) as the only Michigan wrestlers to win four team and individual state championships. 

Boone won the Division 2, 135-pound state title as a freshman, decisioning fellow freshman Josh Edmond, who was wrestling for Orchard Lake St. Mary's then, 6-3.

That was the only time the two nationally-ranked wrestlers were going meet at the state tourney, however, as Edmond transferred to Detroit Catholic Central where he is going for his third state title this season. Edmond, a Missouri signee, is ranked sixth in the nation at 138 pounds.

Boone won state crowns at 145 and 152 the next two years, but has mostly wrestled back at 145 this season. If he remains there, Waterford Kettering's T.J. Daugherty will likely be his biggest obstacle to a fourth championship. Daugherty, a senior, won a state title as a freshman and was runner-up at 130 last year, finishing with a 40-1 record.

Boone's biggest victory during the current high school season is a 4-2 decision over Brecksville, Ohio's Victor Voinovich, a two-time state champion who finished third at Cadet Nationals last summer. He is currently ranked No. 8 in the country at 145 and defeated Boone last season.

Boone has pinned Michigan State signee Eddie Homrock (Brighton), who went 52-0 last season in winning the Division 1, 125-pound state title. He has also beaten Detroit Catholic Central's Marc Shaeffer, a Division 1 state runner-up last season, three times already this season.

Boone's busy offseason included winning the Indiana Preseason Open Mat Tournament and placing third at the Super 32, Grappler Fall Classic and Journeyman tournaments. At Super 32, he knocked off four opponents ranked in the top 20 nationally, including Pennsylvania's Ed Scott, currently ranked third at 152.

At Journeyman, Boone beat New York's Willie McDougald, now ranked 20th at 145.

Mark Spezia is a freelance writer based in Lapeer, Michigan. He has written for ESPNW, Flohockey, Flint, Michigan-based My City Magazine, the Detroit Free Press, Hour Detroit Magazine and Troy, Michigan-based Oakland Press. He previously worked for the Flint Journal, Lapeer (Michigan) County Press and Daily Mining Gazette in Houghton, Michigan.