WS Chronicle

Melton Hardee has collected some pretty impressive hardware over the past year.  In a little over a year, he has been elected into the Sportsman Club’s Winston-Salem/Forsyth County High School Hall of Fame, The Clarence E. “Big House” Gaines Hall of Fame and now the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Hardee is one of the most accomplished wrestlers to have come from the city of Winston-Salem.  He dominated on the high school and collegiate levels.  His nearly four decades as a coach in the sport has kept him close to what he loves to do.

Hardee was enshrined into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame on May 20 in Chapel Hill.  He says it is “unbelieveable” for him to be recognized by so many people for his contributions to the sport of wrestling.

Hardee stated he could have never imagined getting to this point when he first began wrestling in the ninth grade.  He says ever since that day he stepped on the mat, he has never left the sport.

Hardee is currently the head coach of the Gwinnett County (Georgia) high school wrestling team.  He has coached at Gwinnett for the past 10 years and has no thoughts of stepping away from the sport anytime soon, he says.

There are many individuals Hardee credits for his success throughout the years.  He stated he would not be where he is if not for those individuals that took time to help further his career as a wrestler and now a coach.