By: Michael Spiers

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Camden County’s boys’ wrestling team isn’t slowing down anytime soon.

The Wildcats dominated in Macon two weekends ago, locking up their 11th straight state championship with a runaway 303.5-point performance—more than 80 points ahead of second-place Buford.

Leading the charge were three-time champs Bradley Patterson and Ryder Wilder, along with first-time winners Isaac Santos and Brock Weaver.

But it was a full-team effort that made the difference, with 14 wrestlers earning top six finishes and eight making it to the finals.

For an understanding of Camden Wrestling’s continued dominance, consider that the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) created the 7-A classification in 2016, and the Wildcats have won the state championship in wrestling every year since 2014.

The GHSA did away with the 7-A classification at the end of the 2024 school year, making 6-A the highest classification in the state. This means that in the history books of Georgia high school wrestling, Camden County will remain the ONLY squad to have ever won a 7-A wrestling state championship.

Camden set the tone early and never looked back, outscoring every team across all classifications. Head coach Jess Wilder knew his team had the firepower to finish the job, but he didn’t want them getting too comfortable.

“Two years ago, we were down by 28 points going into the last day, and a lot of these guys remember that because they were freshmen,” Wilder said. “We came back and won that year, so we knew we couldn’t take our foot off the gas.”

Camden finished with four individual champions: Patterson (113), Wilder (190), Santos (120), and Weaver (157).

They also had four runners-up—Cane Smolarsky (126), Rod Zow (144), Jamaal Coppedge (165), and Brian Wright (175)—plus several other key contributors. Brandon Higgins (132), Hunter Prosen (138), and Joseph Schulze (285) placed third, Waylon Rozier (150) and Caleb Gaskin (215) finished fourth, and Clayton Newton (106) took fifth.

Buford had the same number of finalists as Camden, but their lack of depth hurt them. “That’s why we win state,” Wilder said. “Our depth is what separates us. Our guys who battled back through the consolation rounds made a huge difference.”

Wilder and Patterson were nearly untouchable. Wilder pinned his finals opponent in just 27 seconds, with his other two pins lasting 31 and 49 seconds.

Patterson was just as dominant, racking up two pins in 25 seconds total before winning his semifinal and final by technical fall, including a 16-0 shutout in the championship match.

Santos fought through a tough semifinal before rolling to a 16-0 title win, while Weaver capped off his run with an 11-3 major decision.

Other Wildcats put together strong performances as well, with Smolarsky, Zow, Coppedge, and Wright all making the finals.

Higgins had one of the fastest pins of the tournament—just five seconds—before winning third place with a clutch 3-1 decision.

The boys weren’t the only ones making headlines. Breanna Higgins tore through the girls’ 100-pound bracket, pinning all four of her opponents to claim a state title.

She finished things off with a second-period pin in the finals after making quick work of the competition leading up to it.

With 15 total state placers between the boys’ and girls’ teams, Camden County once again showed why it’s the top wrestling program in Georgia.

The Wildcats keep setting the bar—and they don’t look like they’re slowing down anytime soon.