Who was the first high-school athlete to appear on the cover of a Wheaties box?

According to Sports Illustrated, the first high school athlete to appear on the cover of a Wheaties box was Chris Spielman who played football as a linebacker. He appeared on the Wheaties box in the early 1980s.

Spielman went on to play for Ohio State University; following his time there, he was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the 1988 NFL Draft. As of 2014, he works for ESPN as a college football analyst.

The first athlete to appear on a Wheaties Box was Lou Gehrig in 1934; he appeared again in 1992. Meanwhile, the youngest athlete to appear on the Wheaties box is Samantha Gordon, who was 9-years-old during her 2012 appearance. She is also the first female football player to appear on the box.