MOULTRIE — Colquitt County senior wrestlers Austin Paradice and Ethan Sellers have signed to continue their careers at the next level.

Paradice became the first Colquitt County wrestler to sign with a Division I program when he agreed to join the  UT-Chattanooga program.

He is the defending state champion at 145 pounds and is undefeated so far this season.

Sellers, who is wrestling at 132 this season, signed with Marietta’s Life University, which won the NAIA national championship last season.

Packers coach Benjy Scarbor said that while neither Paradice nor Sellers is perfect, “they always strive to get better and better.

“These are guys you want to emulate. They represent our school and our wrestling program with outstanding character and morals. They have A averages in the classroom and get it done on the mat every single day.

“These guys have a piece of my heart and I’ll remember them forever.”

Scarbor noted that it was two years after he started wrestling before Paradice won a match.

“He’s taken it a long way since then,” Scarbor said.

As a freshman, Paradice placed fourth in the state meet.

A year later, he was the state runner-up.

Last spring, he put on a dominated performance in the state tournament to become just the third Colquitt County wrestler to win a state championship.

He pinned four straight opponents in the Class 7A traditional wrestling tournament in Macon to claim the title.

He was 42-3 last season. And he is off to another great start this year.

Sellers also has been a four-season force for the Packers.

He was sixth in the state as a freshman and third as a sophomore.

And he has been impressive enough to catch the eye of the Life University program, which surprised the NAIA by winning the national title last year.

Since the 2016-2017 season, the Running Eagles program has produced three individual NAIA national champions, 10 NAIA national finalists, 23 NAIA All-Americans and 43 NAIA national qualifiers.

Scarbor characterized Sellers as “a fighter.”

“I promise you, he will go to the mat and fight every single day,” he said.

Colquitt County athletic director Darrell Funderburk said as a school and as an athletic department, “This is what we live for.

“These are two guys who have dedicated their lives to a passion and a course of action that is very positive and fulfilling for them,” he said.