When Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson showed up at Hershey’s Giant Center for the PIAA championships, he probably wasn’t looking for the wrestler sitting a dozen rows in front of him. But Northern’s Paul Feite had a way of grabbing every fan’s attention, and Sanderson was no different.

Feite swarmed his way to a fourth-place finish at 138 pounds and was an ultimate tiebreaker loss away from wrestling Bethlehem Catholic’s Ryan Anderson in the state finals. His physicality and toughness were hard to miss in their own right, but every match Feite won on that stage was an inspiration.

Feite was born without a left hand as the result of a rare condition called amniotic band syndrome, a congenital birth defect that occurs in one in every 1,200 births. Feite doesn’t feel the need to talk about it and the last thing he wants is to be defined by it, but the Giant Center crowd loved his story and couldn’t get enough of him.

“I don’t think there’s anyone who can hold my pace,” Feite said. “Once I can control my stuff in my wrestling, I think I’m going to excel. I want to slow things down a little bit in a good way and stay relentless on the attack.”

Feite got a standing ovation as he walked off the mat for the last time, but he was still seething from falling short of his goal of a top-3 finish and didn’t even know it. Still, that performance was just the start of a fast-paced, hectic recruiting push where Feite heard from a number of high-profile wrestling programs.

“The whole process was just as stressful as actually wrestling,” Feite said.

The first communication from Penn State came from assistant coach Cody Sanderson, but Feite had to be convinced it was real. His dad took the call and told him to be on the lookout for a call of his own.

“I was like, ‘Funny. That’s funny,’” Feite said. “I thought he was messing with me.”

Sanderson did contact Feite directly and told him how much he liked his style, his relentlessness and the fact he was always the first wrestler back to the circle.

“They were sitting like 10 seats up from us at Giant Center,” Feite said of Cael Sanderson and his staff. “Coach [Josh] Murray said, ‘Maybe these guys are watching you. I said, ‘Yeah, maybe.’

“He said, ‘Probably not. Probably not at all.’ Then that first night I talked to Cody on the phone, I don’t think I slept. I probably did 1,000 pushups that night. I didn’t know what to do.”

Feite took a surreal visit to Penn State the weekend of April 20-21 and knew right away that’s where he wanted to be. But he stuck to his plan and visited West Virginia this past weekend before making the call to Cody Sanderson Sunday night. Feite won’t have a scholarship right away, but will have the opportunity to open that door at some point down the road.

“It’s pretty unreal,” Feite said. “I didn’t think I’d get most of these opportunities or any of these phone calls or emails. I only took fourth at states. I didn’t really think that was good enough to get where I wanted to be, but sometimes things have a way of working out.

“My goal was to go Division 1 and be a two-time All-American. I felt like if I went Division II and got money there, I might be wasting my time. No one might want me if I wanted to transfer. Now I’m getting offers and stuff. I thought, ‘I’m going to have pay for it either way. I might as well pay for what I want.’”

Feite could start his collegiate career at either 141 or 149 pounds. He had to fight every step of the way to make 138 pounds this postseason, but he had a burning desire to make a long run and stayed committed to it until the end. Feite was unable to make 132 pounds as a junior last season and had to bump the whole way up to 145, where he didn’t even reach states.

Feite lost in the District 3 quarterfinals in the ultimate tiebreaker period when he picked up his third caution call. That bit of adversity paid off his senior season.

“To be able to see his maturity, just being calm and wrestling and not getting too over excited about stall calls or cautions was special,” Murray said. “He was able to be patient and wrestle through all situations, and obviously that got the attention of Mr. Sanderson as well.”

Feite’s commitment came just a day after one of his inspirations, Shaquem Griffin, was picked by the Seattle Seahawks in the 2018 NFL Draft.

Griffin had his left hand amputated when he was 4 years old as a result of amniotic band syndrome and overcame long odds to star at Central Florida. His story took a turn for the unbelievable when he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.38 seconds.

Feite tried to contact Griffin through Instagram two months ago, he said, but didn’t hear back.

Griffin’s attitude and success were an inspiration in Feite’s athletic journey. Now, Feite faces similarly long odds to crack Penn State’s lineup, but no one who has ever met him is counting him out.

“It’s such a dream come true,” Feite said. “I’ve been through a good amount. I want to go up there, work as hard as I can and become the best wrestler I can be. There’s nowhere better in the world to do that.”