Paradice ‘hammers’ opponents to capture state championship

Published 11:18 am Tuesday, February 16, 2021

MOULTRIE — To hear Colquitt County state wrestling champion Austin Paradice tell it, he “wasn’t that great” at football and was “just OK’ at soccer.

“And there was something about competition, about me being the little guy,” Paradice said Sunday. “I just kind of latched on to wrestling.”

And “latched” also is an apt discription for the way he has put away his opponents the last three seasons.

Just this season, he has conquered 42 opponents, losing just three times.

And he can give you the details of each loss. He remembers them more distinctly than his victories.

His success is not surprising to Colquitt County’s long-time South Georgia wrestling coach Benjy Scarbor.

Speaking of Paradice’s four-pin performance at last week’s GHSA state tradtional wrestling championships in Macon, he said, “I knew he was going to hammer them.”

And Scarbor is an excellent judge of high school wrestling talent.

Paradice is his “11th or 12th” state champion, including two — Paradice and Nic Jarvis — from Colquitt County.

The others were members of Scarbor’s Valdosta High teams. And while at Valdosta he sent out wrestlers to compete with Travis Register, the Packers other state champ.

“Austin is the best technician wrestler to come from Moultrie,” Scarbor said. “He has a lot of weapons, really a menu to choose from. Whatever you do, he’s a step ahead of it.”

Scarbor also marvels at how the young wrestler comports himself.

“He’s just cool, calm,” Scarbor said. “It’s like, ‘I’ve got this. I’m in control.’ Every situation he finds himself in, he’s been in before.”

Paradice’s combination of quickness, agility and knowledge have served him well, and not just at the high school level.

He wrestles year-round against some of the best competition nationally.

He is already preparing for April’s National Wrestling Coaches Association’s national tournament in Virginia Beach, Va., where he will compete against other top juniors in the country.

He placed in the event as a sophomore last year.

He will compete at other high-level events, including the Super 32 event, which will be held in October, and also in some Greco and freestyle tournaments.

Paradice credits Scarbor and his staff for helping him develop as a wrestler the last three years.

In addition to the instruction he receives at Colquitt County, he has benefited from his association with other coaches, including his father, Jeremy Paradice, who has worked with wrestlers at Colquitt County and with the local Storm program.

“He absorbs it all like a sponge,” Scarbor said.

To be prepared for Nationals, Paradice is staying in shape and working on his leg attacks.

“I’m also getting myself mentally prepared,” he said. “Ninety percent of wrestling is mental.

“You have got to be prepared to give everything.”

Scarbor said, “The sky is the limit for him. He enjoys taking on the toughest there is and he wants to wrestle D1 in college. He wants to experience it all.”

As he prepares for the spring, summer and fall competitions, Paradice can look forward to a chance to become a two-time state champion next year and perhaps help bring a team title back to Colquitt County.

A bonus for Paradice next season will be the opportunity to have younger brother Logan join him on the Packers varsity.

Logan, an eighth-grader this year, is a talented wrestler as well, Scarbor said.