Owen Moss will make the move from Ellijay to Franklin Springs in the fall to continue his academic and athletic endeavors.
Moss is a 2022 Gilmer High School graduate and is set to enroll at Emmanuel College where he will wrestle for the Lions. In the end it came down to three schools, and he chose Emmanuel over Truett-McConnell University and Life University.
“Emmanuel is in the NCAA, and that’s one thing that stuck out for me,” Moss said. “I’ll face better competition than in NAIA. They have really good programs for what I want to major in, and they have one of the biggest athletic buildings around.
“I got a tour of the campus on my visit and it’s a little bit of an older place, but it’s nice and everything has been renovated.”
Moss said he wanted to wrestle in college dating back to when he got into the sport in fifth grade. He was soon at Clear Creek Middle School where he wrestled for heralded coaches Walt Monroe and Bo Dorsey.
“That experience was great, and I wouldn’t be the man I am today without him (Monroe),” Moss said. “He taught me everything I know.”
Moss attended some USA Wrestling summer tournaments in Alabama and Iowa, and GHS made a trip to Florida last season to wrestle at Disney. He has also spent time at Morris Fitness in the offseason, which is a wrestling training center in Alpharetta.
“Wrestling in those tournaments helped me get better. When you wrestle people and get your butt kicked, you realize what you really need to work on,” Moss said.
When Moss arrived at GHS, he became part of a program with 17 state championships. He was a three year letter winner and continually improved throughout his Bobcat career.
“Wrestling is just something I’ve stuck with and have gotten better and better,” Moss said. “I started hanging with the better wrestlers and beating some of the better ones. I wrestled a state champion (this past season) when we went up to Tennessee. I lost the match, but I hung with him really good. I thought to myself, ‘I can keep working and getting better and I’ll be better than that person.’”
Moss also made sacrifices off the mat to aid his performance on it. GHS head coach Josh Ghobadpoor continually praised Moss for his dedication to his fitness during his junior and senior seasons. Moss previously wrestled at 220 pounds before shedding some weight.
“My sophomore year we needed a 195,” he said. “We didn’t win state that year, but we needed someone at 195, and I wanted to get down to that weight and be that person. I just kept going with it and going with it and it helped my wrestling overall.”
Moss was a member of four duals and four traditional area championship teams at GHS.
He was an area runner-up as a junior and won area the next year. He qualified for the Class 3A traditional state tournament twice and was a two-time placer at 195. He finished 5th as a junior ahead of a third-place finish to cap his senior season.
As a team, the Bobcats settled for second place at state duals where a scoring error by scorekeepers dashed Gilmer’s title hopes. However, GHS did just enough at the traditional state tournament to finish first for the school’s 18th state championship.
“I almost cried when we won state,” Moss said. “Losing those past few years and then to finally win it was crazy.”
Coaches Ghobadpoor and Monroe are two people Moss mentioned when asked who helped him reach this point in his wrestling career before adding, “Also some of the other wrestlers I’ve met on social media, and some of the older wrestlers here who got college scholarships impacted me. It really motivated me to do better.”
Moss noted he is unsure of where he will take the mat for the Lions. The possible spots are either at 174, 184 or 197.
“It’s all going to depend on where they want me,” Moss said. “Wrestling at 184 would be fine with me, but I don’t know about 174 because that’s a lot (of weight to cut). They don’t have a 197 at all, so if I was there I could start my first year, which really stood out to me.”
Moss will continue to condition on his own over the summer with weight lifting and plans to go to Morris Fitness on weekends when he has time to make the trip. He also drills with GHS alum Jaime Lopez, who coaches in Whitfield County.
“I’m looking forward to college wrestling and getting my degree,” Moss said. “I’ll major in exercise science and physical therapy. I want to do something with athletes. I don’t want to be a regular physical therapist. I’d like to be one with the Olympic team or in the NFL.
“I probably know a little bit more about the human body than most because my mom is a nurse and my dad was an EMT. I’ve just always been around it a lot.”
Emmanuel competes in the NCAA’s Division II as members of Conference Carolinas.