Posted: Jun 08, 2023
By Francisco Claudio
It was six months since the announcement that Westcliff Athletics would add women's wrestling to their list of elite sports programs.
Time sure flies.
Now, women's wrestling has found a head coach that will be responsible for guiding and growing the program as Westcliff Athletics continues its incredible expansion.
Enter Head Coach D'Rell Gist.
Gist started wrestling in his freshman year of high school and continued wrestling at the collegiate level throughout college.
"I immediately fell in love with the sport," Gist said. "When my college career was over, I knew I wanted to stay involved with the sport so I started coaching. I went on to travel the country and coached wrestling with ISI team wrestling camps.
"I then became the assistant wrestling coach at Birmingham High School in Los Angeles where I helped the team win two city championships, a California state dual championship, coached multiple state qualifiers/state placers, and coached the girl's team to a top three finish in the state."
After a couple of years of coaching in Los Angeles, Gist decided to move back to his hometown of San Diego and became the assistant coach at Helix High School as well as the head wrestling coach of team blue at Granite Wrestling Club.
During his tenure as an assistant coach at Helix, there were multiple CIF placers, master qualifiers, and a masters placer.
At Granite, he coached multiple State placers, State champions, and All Americans.
It's safe to say that everywhere Gist has coached and dedicated his passion, they have seen success for the programs and its student-athletes.
"I love the sport of wrestling and I love giving back," Gist said. "It's amazing to help an athlete develop not only as a wrestler but also help them develop in their character.
"Coaching gives you the opportunity to truly make a difference in the lives of others and it's something that I am truly passionate about."
Gist will be able to fit in perfectly because Westcliff is surrounded by passionate people which is just one of the many reasons why there has been so much success in the athletics department.
It all starts with the 5Cs culture that Dean of Athletics, Shawn Harris has ingrained in the roots and foundation of the athletic department.
The 5Cs: Character, Culture, Community, Committed, and Championships.
"I want to develop champions both on and off the mat," Gist said. "I want every student that I coach to not only become the best wrestler they can possibly be but also the best person they can possibly be."
Women's wrestling is slated to begin this winter as Westcliff joins the short list of NAIA schools in California that currently have this program; the others are Menlo College, Life Pacific University, and Simpson University.
"My vision for the program is to continue to grow into a national championship team," Gist said. "I know it may not happen overnight, but with continuous hard work and dedication, it is 100% attainable and will happen."
Now, Gist will turn his attention to recruiting and filling out the spots on his roster with the right kind of athletes that will represent Westcliff out on the floor and inside the classroom.
"Academics and athletics go hand and hand," Gist said. "In order to compete, the academic side of things must be taken care of which is extremely important.
"Everyone has the goal to be successful at their sport but the ultimate goal should be earning that college degree."
Some of the characteristics that he will look for in student-athletes are: Disciplined, resilient, hard-working, competitive, focused, passionate, respectful, coachable, humble, and motivated.
Westcliff continues to push the limits and has caught everyone's attention in every competition they have participated in during the 2022-2023 season.
"Women's wrestling is a rapidly growing sport that is gaining tons of popularity all around the world," Gist said. "I am so thankful to be coaching this team and look forward to the seasons ahead."
Westcliff's wrestling program is set to start in the winter so look out for more information, especially on their Instagram account: westcliffu_wwrestling.
