Zach Epperly

  • Zach
  • Epperly

  • Class
    r-Junior
  • Weight
    174 lbs.
  • High School/Other
    Christiansburg
  • Hometown
    Christiansburg, Va.
YearOverallDualLeagueMajor Dec.Tech FallFallTimePoints
2013-20140-00-00-0000-0
2014-201524-813-34-12352:1156
2015-201617-39-14-02133:2639
2016-201721-317-15-04334:5374
Career62-1439-513-187112:11169

Updated: June 7, 2017

Two-time NCAA All-American (3rd, 2016; 7th, 2015)
2017 ACC Champion
2017 All-ACC Academic

2016-17: ACC Champion at 174 pounds … NCAA qualifier who went 2-2 at the national tournament … VaSID All-State first team … All-ACC Academic Team … Left Virginia Tech with a .816 winning percentage, the seventh-best clip in program history … No. 1 seed at the ACC Tournament … Defeated North Carolina’s Ethan Ramos, the No. 2 seed, in the 174-pound final to clinch his first conference title … Pinned Dylan Wisman of No. 5 Missouri at 4:51 in a dual meet … Registered two tech falls and a pin at the Virginia Duals … Beat No. 7 Ethan Ramos of UNC, 8-2, in a dual … Lone loss of the regular season came against No. 5 Ryan Preisch of Lehigh, who claimed a 3-1 decision … Defeated No. 16 David Kocer of South Dakota State, 3-1, in sudden victory overtime … Registered a 5-3 decision over Nick Reenan of No. 8 NC State in the final bout of the ACC dual meet title match.

2015-16: Compiled an overall record of 17-3 at 174 for the Hokies … NCAA All-American … VaSID Wrestler of the Year ... VaSID All-State First Team … Finished third at the NCAA Championships going 7-1 throughout the contest … Finished second at the ACC Championships … Tied for the team lead with six major decisions ... Won by tech fall, 20-5, versus Adam Caleron of Michigan (Feb. 21) … Won by fall (6:00) against Brian Dorsey of Duke (Feb. 13) … Won a 5-0 decision versus Nick Hall of NC State (Feb. 11) … Picked up a major decision victory against Patrick Jennings of Edinboro 10-2 on Feb. 7 … Won by fall (4:38) against TeShane Campbell of Pittsburgh (Feb. 5) … Won versus Tyler Askey of Virginia by major decision 15-5 on Jan. 31 ... Won by decision 8-3 versus West Virginia's Ross Renzi on Jan. 29 … Won by fall (3:26) versus George Mason's Daniel Mika on Jan. 3 … Defeated No. 17 Lelund Weatherspoon by decision 4-1 against No. 13 Iowa State Nov. 7

2014-15: An All-American at 174 pounds, placing seventh … The state's rookie of the year as voted on by VaSID … Posted a 24-8 record for the season … Picked up a pin in his collegiate debut, coming against Newberry … Wrestling unattached, won the Hokie Open by going 4-0 … Defeated No. 14 Kurtis Julson of North Dakota State 6-4 in a dual meet … Pinned 13th-ranked Mark Martin in the second tiebreaker to help the Hokies beat No. 4 Ohio State … Took fifth at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational … Went 5-2, picking up wins over Pete Renda, Nate Jackson and Mark Martin … Upset second-ranked Matt Brown of Penn State 8-6 in sudden victory in the dual meet … Named ACC Wrestler of the Week for his performance … Went 3-1 at the Virginia Duals with a pair of pins … Suffered a close 3-2 loss to No. 6 Blaise Butler of Virginia in the final match … Downed No. 6 Tyler Wilps 3-2 in the dual meet against Pitt … Rolled to a 17-2 technical fall over Duke's Randy Roden in the dual … Went 3-1 at the conference championship to place third … Advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships before falling, but won the round of 12 match with Virginia's Blaise Butler, pinning him in the third period … A member of the NWCA All-Academic squad.

2013-14: Was redshirted … Went 29-2 wrestling unattached at 174 pounds … Won six open tournaments … Went 4-0 at the Hokie Open to take the title … Beat No. 15 Turtogtokh Luvsandorj of The Citadel, 4-3, in the finals … Went 5-0 at the Wolfpack Open to take first place … Placed fifth at the Midlands Championships with a 4-2 mark while competing unattached … Went 4-0 at the Shorty Hitchcock Memorial to take the title … Defeated defending Pac-12 champion Dominic Kastl of Cal Poly in the finals … Went 3-0 (2-0 against NCAA competition) at the Appalachian State Open to take first place … Won his fifth tournament of the season when he went 5-0 to take the Edinboro Open crown at 174 pounds … Went 4-0 to win the National Collegiate Open in Richmond for title No. 6.

High School: Lettered four times for Coach Daryl Weber at Christiansburg High … Rated as the No. 26 overall recruit in the country by InterMat, No. 29 by D1CollegeWrestling, No. 43 by FloWrestling and No. 48 by Amateur Wrestling News … Finished his senior year ranked fourth in the country at 170 pounds by InterMat and No. 9 in the country at 182 pounds by AWN … Won four VHSL Group AA titles … Won at 170 pounds as a senior, 160 pounds as a junior, 145 pounds as a sophomore and at 135 pounds as a freshman … The Timesland Wrestler of the Year as named by The Roanoke Times as a junior … Also won the River Ridge and Region IV crowns to go with the Beast of the East and the Big Blue, where he beat four-time Group AAA champ Cody Allala of Hopewell in a last-second rally … Had 173 wins in high school.

Personal: Zach Lee Epperly was born February 24, 1994 in Radford, VA … The son of Jeff and Elise Epperly … Has two brothers: Matt and Brady … Matt was a two-time ACC champion for the Hokies … Enrolled in university studies.