South Carroll's Gage Owen pins down wrestling national title

South Carroll junior Gage Owen put together a perfect weekend at the MPSSAA Wrestling Championships in early March and won a second career state title.

Owen added another unblemished performance last weekend -- and this time it resulted in a national championship.

Owen won all six of his matches in the 126-pound weight class at the National High School Coaches Association wrestling tourney March 25-27 in Virginia Beach, Va., a few weeks after going 4-0 at the state tourney to win a Class 2A/1A crown at 132 pounds.

Owen bested Mitchell Neiner of Washington State 3-1 in the championship bout.

The Cavs' two-time state champ began his own "March Madness" journey in a Round of 64 bout against Patrick Ransom of Colorado, and Owen won by fall in 2:52. In the Round of 32, Owen pinned Rhode Island's Connor Swaim in 3:13.

Next up was the Round of 16, and Owen edged Matthew Eberly of Virginia 3-2. Georgia's Amantee Mills waited in the quarterfinals, but Owen prevailed 1-0 in a tiebreaker round.

Max Gallagher of New York was up next, and Owen won the semifinal bout 5-2 to set up a championship match against Neiner.

Owen won that bout, too, for a 6-0 weekend and a national title.

South Carroll teammate AJ Rodrigues finished second at 152 pounds, and fellow Cavs grappler Michael Pizzuto placed fourth at 120 pounds. SC's Manny Rodrigues wrestled at 145 but didn't place.

Owen is 94-3 all-time in his South Carroll career, and we recently tabbed him as the CMSportsNet Wrestler of the Year for the 2021-22 season. 

Check out our special highlights package from the MPSSAA championships.