ORANGE PARK - Two words standout on the walls of St. Johns Country Day School's latest athletic facility: Agoge and Arete. And, according to wrestling head coach Hunter Hill, the meaning of both words are the foundation for the future for Spartans athletics.

"First of all, we got an anonymous donation to give the wrestling program a start on creating a place for the guys to train," said Hill, a former Clay High coach under Hall of Fame coach Jim Reape. "That got us started with the room. Then we had to do some more fundraising to get it all set up - mats, signs, lockers, that kind of stuff."

For Hill and St. Johns Athletic Director John Dwyer, wrestling at St. Johns has quickly emerged as one of the more exciting sports for a school that already has sported soccer, baseball, weightlifting and track state championships.

"It helps that we got a state champion in here pretty quickly (seventh-grader Bryce Fiore, who went undefeated while winning in Class 1A last year) with a handful of guys at regions and a few to state," Hill said. "I had the backing of the administration here right from the start, and it has slowly built from a class I have with elementary schoolers here to some great high schoolers finding the room."

The "room," as Hill calls the facility adjacent to the Brown Gym, was a physical education coaches' office area. Now it's the Agoge Training Center.

"We chose Agoge as the name of the room because it is a Greek word for ancient Greek society that pushed 7-year-olds and emphasized rigorous training for males in Sparta," said Hill. "Arete, on the opposite wall of the Agoge symbol, is also a Greek-linked work symbolizing earning a specific function at the highest level. The word comes from the word 'Aristos' meaning the best."

Rebuilding began in April, and the plans included converting the wide-open office space to two wrestling mats, wall mats to protect wrestlers from concrete, plus lockers and observation areas. The room was unveiled on Thursday, Oct. 29.

"I've been told it is the biggest on-campus wrestling training room in North Florida, and that's pretty cool considering the rooms just in Clay County where wrestling rooms are pretty impressive," Hill said. "The goals was not to out-do the county, but to give our kids a top-tier facility. We have built the culture pretty quickly because one kid will bring five friends to give it a go, and wrestling as a sport can become contagious."

One question posed to athletic director Dwyer was what turned the corner for wrestling to be given the attention it has gotten from the St. Johns administration.

"It all comes from coach Hill's energy in the room," said Dwyer, who's spent four years at St. Johns before starting as athletic director. "There really was not question that he was all in and that we could make an impact in the wrestling world pretty fast. And, so far, he has."

Hill has a Monday night all-comers Grappling Academy in the Agoge room. He has already had wrestlers from around the area,, including as many as six high school standouts.

"Every wrestler knows mat time makes you better, pretty simple," Hill said. "We have an upstairs area that is being dedicated for our younger kids, with the older ones on the main arena. It's good for the little guys to be able to mingle with the guys that they read about in the sports pages."