Fourth state title within grasp of elite Camden County wrestler
Ryder Wilder is closing in on an audacious goal he set the first time he stepped on a wrestling mat. The senior from Camden County is trying to become only the 50th four-time state champion in Georgia history.
“I thought about it since I started wrestling, to be honest,” he said. “I’ve just always wanted to be the best. Everything I do, I’m pretty competitive. So it was like, if I can be the best ... I want to be the best and win every single chance I have.”
The Camden County High School senior will try to become a four-time state wrestling championship when the GHSA holds its individual championships Feb. 11-14 at the Macon Coliseum.
According to GHSA records, only 49 wrestlers have won four state championships. Seth Larson of Flowery Branch is the most recent, accomplishing the feat from 2021-24.
“I’m obviously super proud,” said Jess Wilder, Camden County’s coach and Ryder’s father. “We try not to put a lot of weight on the end result, but it’s kind of like the team tournament.
“It’s a hard sport, so to do it through your teenage years is going to be a challenge. So much can happen to knock a teenager off track,” Jess Wilder said.
Camden County has never had a four-time champion, even though the Wildcats have won the state championship in both the team tournament and the traditional tournament for 11 consecutive years.
Ryder Wilder participated in other team sports when he was growing up, but gravitated to wrestling because of the individual aspect of the competition.
“In football, you can be a five-star wide receiver, but if your quarterback can’t throw, then it won’t really matter if you’re a five-star,” he said. “I like the individual aspect of wrestling. It’s just me out there competing against one other guy.”
In 2023, Wilder won by a decision over Buford’s Conor McCloskey in the 175-pound final.
Wilder said, “I don’t remember much about the match. I just remember how tired I was at the end of it because my opponent was super tough. He was a crazy good wrestler, one of the best to come from Georgia, in my opinion. I was insanely exhausted. I didn’t even celebrate. As soon as I got off the mat, I went into the hallway and laid down and tried to catch my breath because it was a battle.”
In 2024, Wilder defeated Landon Jones of Harrison 1-0 to win the 190-pound division.
Wilder said, “I didn’t do the best, to be honest. I won the match, but I should have done better because I beat the kid twice the two prior weeks a lot worse. I just remember being kind of disappointed in myself, even though I won.”
In 2025, Wilder pinned David Rudd of Harrison in only 27 seconds to win the 190-pound division. With his brother Raydan watching from the crowd, Ryder became the fifth three-time champion in school history and afterward posed with the other members of the elite club.
Wilder said, “That was my third, so I remember looking at (my brother) and holding up a ‘3’ because I tried to copy his celebration from when he won his third title.”
Wilder’s training routine is intense and his diet is strict. But it has paid off with a scholarship to wrestle at Northwestern. He is ranked No. 5 in the nation by Flow Wrestling.com.
“If you don’t think it’s that hard, then just get one other guy and try to wrestle him for six minutes,” Wilder said. “I bet you by the second minute you’ll be like, ‘Oh, my goodness. I do not want to do this anymore.’”
The Georgia team duals will be held Friday and Saturday. Camden County will host the Class 6A tournament. Other sites are Legacy Arena in Douglasville (5A), Ola (4A), Jefferson (3A) East Jackson (2A) and Heard County (A). The girls team championships are Jan. 24 at Carrollton (Division 1) and Lumpkin County (Division 2).
About the Author
Stan Awtrey has been covering sports for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution since 1977. He currently writes about high school sports, Georgia State University athletics and golf.
