Mount Vernon’s Reagan Light enjoy wrestling from the sidelines

MOUNT VERNON - Every day during the wrestling season was a busy one for Mount Vernon's Reagan Light.

That's the life of a manager.

Cleaning the mats after practice, recording meets and tweeting out results are only a few jobs Light dealt with during the season, which ended last Saturday at the state tournament.

Light is the daughter of head wrestling coach Vance Light.

'My dad has me do a little bit more since I'm his daughter, but that's a given,” she said with a chuckle.

The sport of wrestling has been with her family for generations. Her dad won state titles twice and was elected into the Hall of Fame in 2016. Her older brother, Justin, was a state qualifier.

Light has been helping out the wrestling program since seventh grade. Her favorite part about being a manager is watching the meets since she's passionate about the sport. Light gets to spend all day or all weekend with other managers and the wrestlers.

The greatest thing about meets to Light is seeing all the guys happy after putting in their hard work.

This past season, the wrestling program suffered a major loss and a major voice. Light's mom, Marsha, died after a long battle with cancer in November of 2018. The wrestling team, as well as the community of Mount Vernon, came together to support the Light family.

'It's really cliche to say, but we're actually like a family,” Light said of the wrestling program.

The senior boys came to visit Marsha during her last few weeks. At the funeral, the whole team walked in together to honor Marsha. This season, Marsha's cheers were missing from the stands, but she was not absent in their hearts.

Light recommends others becoming wrestling managers if their hearts are in the sport and if they know the rules.

'Every match that a guy wins is pretty satisfying,” Light said.

Light believes being a manager is rewarding.

Would Light ever wrestle if she had the chance?

'If I would've started when I was younger, I would. But if I started now, I wouldn't,” she said.