Mark Hall gets a pin on his way to his fifth InterMat JJ Classic title (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine) Mark Hall gets a pin on his way to his fifth InterMat JJ Classic title (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)

The wait is finally over. On the first day of the early signing period for high school wrestlers, the nation's No. 1 wrestling recruit Mark Hall announced his college intentions.The Apple Valley (Minn.) senior declared that he will be attending Penn State and wrestling for Cael Sanderson."Going out to Penn State, it just felt like a home to me," said Hall.Hall chose Penn State over Minnesota, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Arizona State."It was a weight off my shoulders when I got off the Penn State campus," said Hall. Just having to hold it in and keep it kind of secret so no one else would find out was kind of hard. That was probably the hardest part."Hall, a five-time state champion and Cadet World champion in freestyle, is the third top-15 ranked wrestler in this class to commit to Penn State, as he joins No. 2 Nick Suriano (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) and No. 15 Mason Manville (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.)."Any wrestler will say they want to be a four-time national champion and they want to be a part of four national championship teams," said Hall, who has a high school career record of 229-4. "I think at Penn State I have the best opportunity to make it happen. Coach Cael [Sanderson), Coach Casey [Cunningham], Coach Cody [Sanderson] , all those guys, I truly believe that will help me win four national titles and they will help me become a World and Olympic champion," said Hall.Hall starts the season as the top-ranked wrestler in the country at 170 pounds. He has a chance to become Minnesota's first six-time state champion."I would like to be remembered as the face of Minnesota wrestling," said Hall. "That's a big thing to put on myself. But I truly believe with the coaches that I have, with my teammates, my family, I'll take that opportunity and I'll seize it with everything that I have."This past Sunday Hall won his fifth straight InterMat JJ Classic title and earned Outstanding Wrestler honors. He was a UWW Junior National champion in freestyle at 74 kilos, and won the World Team spot in the Trials. This came one year after winning a UWW Cadet World championship in freestyle at 76 kilos.He projects as a165/174-pound wrestler in college.