School Wrestling Contacts:  

Bill Marck, Head Varsity Coach and Outside Professional Business, 571-338-5669 (cell/evenings), WILLIAM.MARCK@LCPS.ORG (official email), as a side note, notify Coach Marck when sending emails via LCPS with notifications on LIGHTRIDGEWRESTLING@GMAIL.COM, coach Marck mainly uses LCPS to respond to inquiries but often checks gmail to confirm emails are sent.

Ryan Barden, Head JV Coach and School Teacher, RYAN.BARDEN@LCPS.ORG 

Nathan Tye, Assistant Varsity Coach and School I.T. Guy, NATHAN.TYE@LCPS.ORG 

Jason Beyer, Volunteer Assistant Coach, Lightridge High School Teacher

Fred Ramirez, Volunteer Assistant Coach, Outside Professional Employment

Joshua Drahos, Volunteer Assistant Coach, Lightridge High School Student Resource Officer

One Volunteer (non-paid) Position Applications Available Online at LCPS.ORG or CLICK HERE

The process to begin registering online is:

- https://lcps.tedk12.com/hire/index.aspx#aJobListings

- type "wrestling" in the search bar

- select the "Wrestling, Varsity Assistant Coach"

All coach candidates apply whether or not they are paid assistants or unpaid volunteer positions. 

Important Contacts for Lightridge:

Athletic Trainer (medical, physical, health):  Andrew.Lerouge@lcps.org

Athletic Director:  Jason.Treon@lcps.org 

Assistant Athletic Director:  Brian.Schmidt@lcps.org 

Head Custodian:  Fernando, 571-218-7305

Bus Coordinator:  TBD

Accolades and Contributions

• Trained two male Lightridge wrestlers who placed at VA State Tournament during the period between 2021-2024.

• Grew Lightridge program and number of participants that required two separate practices 2024-2026 with first female state placer for Lightridge.  

• Trained many Lightridge wrestlers who successfully placed top four in their respective Regional Championship Tournaments 2021-2026.

• Significantly helped Champe get several regional place winners/champions.

• Significantly helped Champe get its first state champion at heavy weight (becoming 2x state champion).

• Grew the Dulles Youth Sports (DYS) wrestling program to become a Top-50 USA Wrestling club nation-wide in 2019.

• Established a joint youth wrestling team between DYS and Rangers winning MDWL championships in 2018 and 2019.

• Established NOVA Sports & Activities, Inc., nonprofit 501(c)3, in 2020 to help create youth feeder opportunities for Lightridge and others.

Assistant Coaches

• Overall, the talent and experience associated with the coaches is very high based on long time experiences wrestling at in high school and college on a personal basis, including George Mason University.

• Coaches have had sons wrestle in youth wrestling programs at the elementary, middle, and high school levels as part of programs/teams involved with local, regional, and national level competitions, such as Dulles Youth Sports, Ranger Wrestling Club, Capitol Area Wrestling League, Northern Virginia Wrestling Federation, Mason Dixon League, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, USA Wrestling, Virginia Wrestling Association, Maryland Junior Terps, and more. 

•  Lightridge coaches organized camps, clinics, and local wrestling tournaments for all grades K-12 over many years. 

Messages to parents on sports in general

- Our coaches are very experienced in youth sports programs.  We encourage kids and families to get involved for general physical fitness, fun, and opportunities to meet others.  We have also learned that kids need opportunities (practices, camps, clinics, and good instruction) to gain knowledge and skills to become competitive for today's high school varsity programs.  LHS recognizes the need to balance life, school, sports, and extracurricular activities, and therefore provides opportunities for athletes of all levels and interests.

- If you are looking to become generally familiar with the sport of wrestling, we have the program for you.  If you are looking to compete at higher levels, we create opportunities for you to train in-season (during the classic months of November through February) and off-season (during the remainder of the year) to keep pace with other local team competitors.

- The LHS coaching staff is comprised of teachers and professionals who work in the local area.  Moreover, LHS coaches have a great deal of experience dealing with male and female youth athletes at all ages and sporting experiences from recreation to travel/elite including softball, football, track, and of course wrestling.  LHS coaches understand the pressures to compete at youth, high school, and college levels.  Life is certainly a balance and LHS has a structured format for just about any level athlete. 

- Unlike other sports, wrestlers have ample opportunities to meet national champions, Olympians, and high level coaches.  Wrestlers can easily get autographs, signatures, and pictures with their favorite champ.  In contrast, it is very difficult to gain access to professionals in football, baseball, or basketball. Just getting on the field is a challenge, however, wrestlers can get mat-side appearances with college wrestlers after matches or during camp sessions. The sport of wrestling presents opportunities for young athletes to get face time with their favorite role models.

 - Pressures and trends on youth sports families have been quietly understood for a long time and now revealed in the following HBO special.  For those of us who are up in age, we remember the days when sports were based on seasons.  Today, sports have become highly specialized and year-round.  And, some sports involve personal trainers and private instruction.  See what HBO has documented.  Parents and athletes need to understand the landscape of today's competitive field in order to curb expectations reasonably.  The simple fact is that today's opponents at the varsity level spend significant amounts of time and money to become competitive at state competitions.  

- Wrestling programs offer the best opportunities for young athletes to participate in sports as compared to other sports programs!

"The Business of Youth Tourism by HBO Sports Reporter Bryant Gumbel November 2018" ~ CLICK HERE

With all that said, the Lightridge High School wrestling team offers athletes with opportunities to gain knowledge of the sport and excel to the next level.  The coaches will show them some basic things they can do on their own each day to become physically stronger at the very least.  

Welcome aboard and thank you for joining the Lightridge wrestling program!