MACON – Colquitt County’s Logan Paradice dominated all four of his opponents to win his third state wrestling championship on Saturday.
Three one-sided tech fall victories and a pin at 150 pounds at the Macon Centreplex makes the younger of the two wrestling Paradice brothers the first Packer to win three state titles.
Brother Austin won championships in 2021 at 145 pounds and in 2022 at 160, and Travis Register took titles in 2012 and 2013 at 220 pounds.
Logan, ranked No. 2 in the nation in his weight class, finishes his senior season with a 45-0 record.
As a Packer in 2022, 2024 and 2025, he posted a career record of 113-2. Both of his losses came early in his freshman season.
Veteran Colquitt County coach Benjy Scarbor has called Paradice the best wrestler he has coached.
“He was laser-focused, for sure,” Scarbor said of Logan’s performance at the state tournament. “But he’s always a beast on the mat. He’s very physical and he moves you where he wants to move you.”
Logan went through the entire season without allowing any points other than strategic escapes so he could re-start his attack.
“That’s no takedowns, no reversals, no near-falls,” Scarbor emphasized. “He’s the best wrestler ever from Colquitt County.”
Logan, who has signed to wrestle at the University of Northern Iowa, was not challenged in his two days in Macon.
In the first round, he won by a 20-3 tech fall over Mill Creek’s Hudson Fiddler at 1:23 of the first period.
In the quarterfinal, he pinned South Forsyth’s Kai Wright at 1:07.
His semifinal tech fall over Buford’s Trey Gregory came by the same score as his first-round win over Fiddler, 20-3. And it came in 1:33.
In the first-place match Brookwood’s tall and difficult to attack Kenneth Jett took Paradice to the second period before succumbing to a 19-3 tech fall.
“He was just always in his face,” Scarbor said. “He just kept re-attacking after the other guy’s shots.”
Colquitt County, which sent eight wrestlers to the Class 6A state tournament, also had two third-place finishers in sophomore Cruz Grijalva at 126 and senior Matthew Dillon at 215.
For Dillon it was his second-straight third-place finish at the state tournament.
Dillon had to wrestle a grueling six times to duplicate his 2024 third-place finish.
After pinning North Atlanta’s Carlos Hernandez in the first round, he dropped a 12-11 decision to Marietta’s Alex Glymph in the quarterfinal.
It was a disappointing loss, Scarbor said. Dillon had defeated Glymph in the Sectional.
“It’s tough to keep that positivity going after a loss like that,” Scarbor said. “I’m proud that he was able to go back out and get after it.”
Dillon moved to the consolation round where he won four straight.
In round 2, he pinned Tift County’s Danny Freeman and then got a sudden victory over Hillgrove’s Cooper Pedro.
In the consolation semifinal, he took an impressive 11-4 decision over West Forsyth’s Sean Jones.
“He was down at one point,” Scarbor said. “But he kept attacking.”
And in the third-place match he earned 13-3 major decision over Camden County’s Caleb Gaskin.
Grijalva, who finished fifth at the state meet last year, opened with an 18-3 tech fall win over Brookwood’s Tahir Charles and a 12-9 decision over Hillgrove’s Zahir Centeio.
In the semifinal, Grijalva was pinned by Buford’s DJ Clarke, who went on to win the state championship.
But he came back strong in his final two matches.
In the consolation semifinal, he took a major decision over Duluth’s Joshua King.
And in the third-place match, he earned an 8-1 decision over Archer’s Jeremiah Toe.
Scarbor likes Grijalva’s future.
“He’s got a motor,” he said of his young wrestler, who performed well in front of a large gathering of members of his family.
“I hope he’ll continue to wrestle. To win a state title in Georgia, you really need to wrestle year-round.”
Colquitt County sophomore Evan Flowers won two of his four state tournament matches before being eliminated in the consolation round 3.
“He looked good at times,” Scarbor said. “But he got some experience and he’ll get more experience this summer.”
Seniors Russell Flowers, at 165, and Rafael King, at 190, both won one of their three matches.
Russell Flowers had been ill and nursing a sore shoulder and didn’t perform as well as he usually does.
“He’s a two-time state placer,” Scarbor said of the older Flowers brother. “He’s a fighter, an intense kind of guy. There’s not many who want to step in there with Paradice at practice. But he does. He’s a better wrestler than what he showed.”
King got a difficult draw in the bracket, Scarbor said.
Britton Marshall, at 132, Tray Gomez, at 138, also represented Colquitt County at the state tournament.
“We’re proud of what we accomplished,” said Scarbor, who took over the Colquitt County program in 2017. “We had eight who were in the top 16 of their weight classes.
“We’ve had a great run here. We want to keep it moving.”