Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 9 No. 2 | October 2016

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what transpires at 157 pounds.
“They’re all going to battle it out,” he said.
“There will be a lot of wrestling off at 157 and
165, but I think the exciting thing is that all of
those guys could make the NCAA tournament.
They have the ability. It’s just a matter of being
consistent.”
174 POUNDS
Epperly returns for his third season as the
starter after his impressive run at the NCAA
Championships. He missed much of the
first part of last season while taking care of
some personal issues, and he wrestled below
average for much of the season upon on
his return.
Epperly lost in the first round of the NCAA
Championships to unseeded Casey Kent from
the University of Pennsylvania. Yet he turned
things around after that, winning seven straight
matches, including four by major decision and
one by technical fall. He rolled past Kent in a
rematch, beating him 8-4 to claim third place.
“I thinkhewasprobablya littleembarrassed,”
Dresser said. “He was fortunate that he got a
chance to fix it. He didn’t have to wait a year.
Sometimes, when you have a bad match, you
can’t wait to get back out there and fix it. I think
he fixed it.
“Zach is older and wiser now. I see a lot of
consistency. He’s having a better time. For
whatever reason, last year, he was struggling,
but I see a different guy now. I’m very, very
pleased with his fall, just his attitude and the
way he is carrying himself. He’s having fun.
That’s important.”
Three wrestlers are listed as backups at
this weight—sophomore Brooks Wilding,
sophomore Cody Hughes and junior Tae Leary.
Hughes sawmuch of the action during Epperly’s
absence and went 15-8 on the season.
184 POUNDS
Redshirt sophomore Zack Zavatsky took
control of this weight class early last season and
enjoyed a terrific campaign. He was the ACC
champion in this weight class and qualified for
the NCAA Championships, where he wound up
being seeded eighth.
Zavatsky lost in the quarterfinals and
then fell in the consolation round, but the
experience served him well. Dresser goes
into this season with big expectations of the
Latrobe, Pennsylvania native.
“He is a super talented guy and had a really
good year,” Dresser said. “But this is the
deepest weight class and probably the hardest
on paper. He got beat in the round of 12 by the
With most of the wrestlers returning from a team that finished in fourth place at the NCAA
Championships last March, the Tech wrestlers are looking to do even more this upcoming season.
Continued on page 44