Montreat College has named Cheryl Baynard as its head women's wrestling coach, the athletics department announced in late June. Baynard, a North Carolina native, becomes the fourth full-time head coach in program history and begins her duties immediately.

Baynard brings a rare credential to the position, holding USA Wrestling Gold Certification -- the only female coach in North Carolina and one of just four women in the country to hold that distinction. She has more than two decades of coaching experience and has represented both her home state and the United States on the national and international stage. Since 2015, Baynard has served as a North Carolina National Team coach and has been the North Carolina USA Wrestling Junior Women's Director since 2017. She has been selected four times since 2021 to coach Team USA's World Beach Team.

Beyond her coaching career, Baynard has been one of the most impactful advocates for girls' and women's wrestling in the Southeast. She founded SanctionNC, a statewide grassroots campaign that helped sanction girls' high school wrestling in North Carolina, and created the Women in Wrestling Initiative model. She also serves as the Southeast Regional Representative for the NCAA Division I Women's Wrestling Initiative. At the local level, Baynard has served as head coach of BaynardTrained Wrestling Club and as an assistant coach at Erwin Middle School.

Baynard has a personal connection to Montreat. Her son Alec wrestled for the Cavaliers from 2021-23, and her daughter Zebbi works with the school at the Carolina Cyber Center. Baynard and her husband, S. Randall, reside in Naples, North Carolina.