Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 10 No. 2 | October 2017

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IQ is incredibly high. He’s a great
learner, and he wants to come in and
work with coaches and add things to his
wrestling. I’ve seen a lot of improvement
out of him.
“At the end of the day, I think his
best quality is that he loves the sport
of wrestling as much as anyone in our
program. He loves to work out, he loves
to train and he really loves to compete,
so we have high expectations for David.
He’s going to be in the mix to win a title
this year, and he’s capable of doing that.
He believes that in his mind, and that’s
really important.”
Mike Ciavarro serves as the backup at
this weight class. The redshirt junior has
seen limited action in his career.
174 pounds
Tech’s staff faces a little uncertainty at
this weight class, as it tries to replace Epperly. The competition for the
starting nod really comes down to two wrestlers—redshirt sophomore
Cody Hughes and freshman Hunter Bolen.
Hughes took a redshirt season last year, but went 15-8 in limited
action as a true freshman two years ago. Bolen, from nearby
Christiansburg, ranked as one of the top recruits in the nation. He won
three state titles in his career, but perhaps more impressively, won the
160-pound crown at the prestigious Beast of the East tournament this
past December.
“Cody has been in the program for two years, and he’s been a guy
that is consistent with his work ethic and his effort,” Robie said. “He’s
steadily and quietly improved over the course of the past two years. He
seems to be the guy that I would have to pinpoint as the favorite.
“Hunter Bolen is right there with him. There is a possibility that
Hunter redshirts this year. We’ll have to see how things progress over the
course of the next several weeks, but those are the two top guys at 174.”
184 pounds
Tech lacks depth in this weight class, but it returns a stalwart in
Zack Zavatsky, a two-time ACC champion entering his redshirt junior
season. Zavatsky went 25-4 last season and qualified for the NCAA
Championships, though he missed on earning All-America honors.
“He’s coming off two seasons when he had good regular seasons,
but had some disappointments at the NCAA tournament,” Robie said.
“There is no other way to say it. But Zack is incredibly talented and has
proven that he can wrestle with the best guys in the country. To me,
he’s a top-four guy [nationally], and that’s what he’s got to do. That’s
what he has to prove when he steps out there in March. He knows that.
Continued on page 48
JARED
HAUGHT