LAKELAND, Fla. - The Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC)has announced a joint venture with The Sun Conference in men's wrestling. As part of the partnership, Fire Wrestling will join the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) for the 2026-27 season.
This move comes after a successful four-year tenure in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC), where the Fire Wrestling team achieved an impressive record of 21-5 and crowned five individual AAC champions.
"We appreciated our time in the AAC, but this partnership expands the scheduling and competition opportunities for our student-athletes and we're excited to enter into this partnership," said SEU Director of Athletics, Drew Watson.
The partnership aims to enhance the student-athlete experience across both conferences. SSAC wrestling now includes Andrew College, Brewton-Parker Christian, Life University, Keiser University, New College of Florida, and St. Thomas University, many of which are also transitioning from the AAC in wrestling.
"The addition of wrestling to the SSAC is great for our program and wrestling in the Southeast," said Fire head coach
Travis Patrick. "I believe the SSAC offers our team and athletes a high-level championship experience and also creates a more regionally aligned competition schedule for our program."
The 2027 championship is scheduled for February 20 at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama, where it will be hosted for two years. The partnership reflects a continued effort by both conferences to provide competitive sporting environments, with the potential to become one of the top wrestling conferences in the NAIA.
