gannonsports.com Warren Area High School graduate Owen Balas — A District 10 runner-up and all-region all-star his senior season — was named a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Champion Scholar for the 2019-20 season.

Gannon’s Owen Balas was named the PSAC Champion Scholar for the sport of men’s wrestling, the league office announced this week, according to gannonsports.com.

The PSAC Champion Scholar Awards are modeled after the NCAA’s Elite 90 award, and honor the student-athlete with the top grade point average who is competing at the site of each of the PSAC’s 23 team championship finals. The 2019-20 season being the first without a PSAC wrestling tournament since the inception of the Champion Scholar award, Balas earned the award as the highest GPA among eligible student-athletes.

Balas, from Warren Area High School, is the sixth Champion Scholar during this academic year for Gannon, and he’s the DII Golden Knights’ first winner in men’s wrestling since Arlen Mase won the inaugural award in 2011-12.

A sophomore legal studies major, Balas holds a spotless 4.00 GPA through 57 credits. On the mat, he appeared in 24 bouts this season, winning 11 and registering four pins, three technical falls and a major.

In total, 17 different Gannon student-athletes have won the Champion Scholar award a total of 23 times since the award was initiated. The six winners in a single year is the second-highest total in the history of the award.