IMG Academy adds wrestling to sports lineup in 2026

Bradenton-based sports and education brand IMG Academy is adding wrestling to its lineup of sports offerings.

Wrestling will kick off in 2026 through a series of spring and summer camps, before the official launch of the boarding school program in August 2026. 

IMG Academy is home to more than 1,400 youths in grades six to 12 competing in a variety of sports at its boarding school for student-athletes on Bollettieri Boulevard. Among the sports already offered on campus are basketball, football, baseball, softball, golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis and volleyball.

“The launch of wrestling as our 11th overall sport marks an unrivaled milestone for our team, students and families,” IMG Academy Campus COO Mike Milliron says in a statement. “We cannot wait to see what we can accomplish under our wrestling leadership.”

Enock Francois has been named the wrestling director. Francois comes to IMG Academy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was assistant wrestling coach. He has also held coaching leadership positions at Stanford University, West Point and Cornell University, according to the statement.

Francois is a former three-time collegiate All-American and national finalist with a career wrestling record of 140-16, the statement says, and he competed on the USA Wrestling Greco-Roman National Team in 2017 and qualified for the 2016 Olympic trials.

“IMG Academy sets the standard for developing student-athletes who excel both in sport and in life, which is exactly why I’m drawn to this opportunity,” Francois says in the statement. 

Offerings at IMG Academy have been growing in recent years. The school announced it was adding softball in 2024 and volleyball in 2023. In addition to programs for student-athletes at its boarding school, the brand provides online coaching programs and online college recruiting. In May, IMG Academy acquired a sports recruiting company to complement the college recruiting platform in its portfolio.

When it launches in 2026, the IMG Academy wrestling program will be for boys only, but it may open in the future to girls, the school says in an email to the Business Observer.

"While the initial phase focuses on boys wrestling, our long-term vision is fully aligned with IMG Academy’s broader commitment to supporting and elevating the experience of female student-athletes," IMG Academy says in the email. "The success of our girls volleyball program launched before the boys program serves as a direct precedent for our approach to girls wrestling in future phases."

After the school launched girls volleyball in 2023, it added boys volleyball in 2025.