Women's Wrestling Performs Well at Cerritos FS Open
February 16, 2024
Last weekend, the Westcliff women's wrestling team successfully finished their first season with a strong showing at the season-ending event.
The Warriors competed in the Cerritos FS Open held at Cerritos College and Warriors' star Freshman Zitlali Sarmiento yet again was one of the bright spots for the team.
"The highlight was Freshman Zitlali Sarmiento placing top six at the tournament in a tough bracket," explained head coach D'Rell Gist. "It's awesome seeing the progress because every single tournament we just keep getting better and winning more matches.
"We went from not winning a single match in our first tournament to winning some matches the next tournament, to placing top six at this tournament so it shows consistent improvement."
The Warriors were able to compete against other very talented California schools and get a test of what will be needed to consistently be at this level.
"This weekend went well," Gist said. "It was fun getting to compete against other California schools that we will wrestle next season. We wrestled well and are progressing and getting better day by day."
With a year under his belt as the head coach of the program, Gist reflected on the experience and how he took it.
"This first year was filled with highs and lows but it has been awesome and I wouldn't change it for anything," Gist said. "We have been really focused on improving our freestyle wrestling day by day and recruiting for next season. I learned that you may have things planned but God may have other plans so you just have to roll with the punches and keep going."
Now Gist turns his attention to recruiting but also spearheading the men's wrestling team which has been in the works for months.
Gist has spent his time recruiting athletes for both teams in a sport that has begun to draw lots of attention at the collegiate level.
"We will just continue to build and grow," Gist said. "We already have some tough girls on the team and multiple athletes signed for next season so it will be exciting to have a full lineup/ schedule next season.
"This is just the beginning."