ACE to add wrestling teams in upcoming year under former Southwest coach

Macon’s Academy for Classical Education will continue its athletic expansion this season as the Gryphons take up wrestling, the school announced this year.

“We’re really excited to get another athletic program going as we slowly build on our success,” ACE athletic director Josh McClendon said. “We have a lot of kids excited about it and it’s a big step for our school.”

Wrestling will be the newest sport for the school, which started up in Macon in 2014. The sport is a logical next step, McClendon said, with student interest up and the football program succeeding.

“We’ve been slowly expanding, and we waited on this for a couple years because we don’t just want to add a sport to add it, we want to excel at it. But now is the right time,” McClendon said.

The Gryphons’ wrestling coach will be Patrick Saladrigas, former Southwest head coach. Saladrigas will also be a defensive line coach for the football team and an AP U.S. History teacher.

“I’m thrilled to get over there and get to work, and I can’t thank Coach McClendon and Coach Hatcher and the administration enough,” Saladrigas said. “The interest they’ve generated is tremendous.”

Somewhere close to 50 students are already interested in the program, Saladrigas said. Wrestling will also be available to middle schoolers at ACE. The high school program plans to face several Macon schools with wrestling programs, including Central and Saladrigas’ former school, Southwest.

“We want it to be heavily involved in Macon, because while I was at Southwest I learned that these schools should all work with each other,” the coach said. “We also want to attend Mount de Sales’ wrestling tournament when we can.”

Saladrigas got an assistant coaching gig serendipitously while he taught at Southwest, though he’s been into wrestling since his own days in grade school. He found his way to the sport through martial arts.

With an experienced coach signed on, McClendon likes the direction of the program.

“He’s the right guy, no question. For us it’s the fact that he’s a great teacher first, he can teach AP for us which is important,” McClendon said. “And he reached out to us with interest, too. He showed us he was committed to it.”

ACE officially ordered custom mats and other equipment that is slated to arrive in the coming months, though no official schedule has been set for matches yet, Saladrigas said.

As for assistant coaches, Saladrigas is bringing on a former Southwest standout wrestler. Javier Dean placed second in the state at a USA Wrestling tournament during his time as a Patriot, Saladrigas said, and joins the ACE coaching staff just after graduating from Southwest in 2023.

“He’s a great kid, smart, and he really understands the fundamentals and technical stuff about wrestling,” Saladrigas said. “Coach McClendon and the administration couldn’t have been more supportive and I’m happy to give him a chance to make an impact.”

The Gryphons have slowly added sports ranging from golf to swimming and saw unprecedented success last year in football, making the state playoffs and nearly winning the region. The school’s baseball and softball programs have also grown at a rapid rate, with the former winning four straight region titles and the latter capturing a state championship in 2021.

The wrestling team awaits an official roster and schedule to be finalized this fall.