Epperly - would look good in Hawk singlet
- Thread starter Spicolli
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Definitely is a brutal sport and I can understand it. That said, you don't typically see wrestlers that have wrestled for 3 years and been 2x AAs give up their final year of eligibility without having a season ending injury or some type of off the mat issues.
Maybe grades weren't good enough to get into grad school?
Youtsey(Michigan) just did it this past season, only to be pulled back in once their 125 had a season ending injury.
Also, grad school isn't for everyone. Not sure what his major was, but he may not have wanted to take classes simply for the sake of wrestling another year.
Also, grad school isn't for everyone. Not sure what his major was, but he may not have wanted to take classes simply for the sake of wrestling another year.
He missed a bunch of matches last year under mysterious circumstances.
There were rumors on the interwebs that he was going to quit the team.
Dresser did as coaches do ... he made it seem like no big deal. He said on one of his podcasts that Epperly had missed the time because of "family issues."
Epperly came back and finished the season strong. Since all's well that ends well, Dresser was a little less coach-speaky in his pre-NCAA tournament comments about Epperly's season. This is from the Roanoke Times last March:
BLACKSBURG — Zach Epperly once was a bit lost, but now he’s found.
The Christiansburg High School graduate missed six Virginia Tech wrestling matches in January, even though he was healthy.
The 2015 All-American is one of the nation’s best wrestlers in the 174-pound weight class, yet he was not in the lineup.
“His head wasn’t in the right place,” coach Kevin Dresser said. “We needed to pull him out and get his head right. ...
“When you’re not in the right place mentally, you’re not as disciplined with your weight and all that kind of stuff. He wasn’t ready to go from just an overall training standpoint. He wasn’t ready to compete … physically or mentally.”
Seems like a good dude, but he might have just gotten tired of the grind.
There were rumors on the interwebs that he was going to quit the team.
Dresser did as coaches do ... he made it seem like no big deal. He said on one of his podcasts that Epperly had missed the time because of "family issues."
Epperly came back and finished the season strong. Since all's well that ends well, Dresser was a little less coach-speaky in his pre-NCAA tournament comments about Epperly's season. This is from the Roanoke Times last March:
BLACKSBURG — Zach Epperly once was a bit lost, but now he’s found.
The Christiansburg High School graduate missed six Virginia Tech wrestling matches in January, even though he was healthy.
The 2015 All-American is one of the nation’s best wrestlers in the 174-pound weight class, yet he was not in the lineup.
“His head wasn’t in the right place,” coach Kevin Dresser said. “We needed to pull him out and get his head right. ...
“When you’re not in the right place mentally, you’re not as disciplined with your weight and all that kind of stuff. He wasn’t ready to go from just an overall training standpoint. He wasn’t ready to compete … physically or mentally.”
Seems like a good dude, but he might have just gotten tired of the grind.
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We are not likely ever to know what all goes into a decision like that. Life is hard sometimes and as much as I like wrestling there are bigger things sometimes, and competing at a D1 level requires a huge commitment. Very few people have the focus and discipline of a Clark or McD.
Didn't realize he came from Christianburg High School where he would have been coached by Daryl Weber.
With 9.9 maximum number of scholarships what program in the country would give him a full ride? I would think he wouldn't even get 50%...probably about 25% for 1 year of a potential AA. The only coach that may offer more than 25% is Dresser as he's trying to build something so he needs to show a bit of progress to help move the needle.
It doesn't sound like he wants to wrestle anymore. He's not even trying, moving on. Not everyone is able to get into grad school or wants to be in grad school, either.
I wouldn't offer him any scholarship $ at all (of course he could wrestle/coach in the HWC the following year for $60k if he wanted to). 
Yep, even if I would have had eligibility left, there's NO way I would have gone to grad school after graduating. I DESPISED school! Loved college life though
Certainly not for everyone, but if you've already done four years in college it's not that different. Just saying if it was me, and knowing how much an advanced degree can payoff in a career, I'd take a free masters degree.
He's not you. We need all types of people to do all types of jobs. Not everyone should or wants to pursue an advanced degree.
better get that fund raising going again!I wouldn't offer him any scholarship $ at all (of course he could wrestle/coach in the HWC the following year for $60k if he wanted to).
Agreed. He would actually have to WANT to have a career in a field that a Master's degree would benefit him. Also, remember it takes the average person 1.5 to 2 years to attain a Master's degree. So even if he did it for a year, he would still have to come out of pocket a considerable amount and want to keep attending classes that long!
I don't get the sentiment in this thread. He's made it very clear he's done with wrestling, even accepted a job for after he graduates. He's done..
He's wouldn't be getting a free masters degree. At best he's getting half a masters degree and if he doesn't get a full ride he doesn't even get that. And might not even be in a career where one is necessary.
I am a little envious of the guy. I wish I could get the wrestling bug out of my system. But no, I can't. So I hang around wrestling message boards and talk about it. I spend time imagining that I am better than I ever was. Best of luck to the kid. He has had a great career and many memories. If he is coaching, he will probably start giving back. Good for him.
I don't believe he is worth a nickel except for a program that can use him to win a title or to create buzz in a program. Even with that, creating buzz isn't worth more than 1/2 a scholly if that. No team that could win a title next year needs him, so you're left with the buzz factor. As I said, not worth much on a one off basis. The better approach is to build your program systematically over many years and not fall prey to these types of sideshows.
That said, good luck to Zach in his future endeavors.
There are many more coaches that would offer him a full ride than you'd think. If I'm a coach, proven multiple AAs at a need weight are just the type you offer full rides to if given the chance.
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I don't know know about his redshirt status but I bet if he had a redshirt year left and wanted it there would even be multiple coaches willing to give that full ride for 2 years with a return of only 1 year of competition from a likely AA. Remember most programs are not putting 3 or more kids on the stand every year so Epperly in the room for 2 and competing 1 is a better value than same money spent on 4-5 kids that will never AA and/or qualify.
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Most programs would like to have a likely AA in the lineup. Even if it's for 1 year.
What cost would you spend and what is the real benefit to a school/program in spending it? I just don't see how spending a half scholly (let's assume $20k for out of state) is returned as a benefit. Personal preference I guess.
Only a handful of teams are going to contend for a title over the next 5+ years. If you are a coach of a top 20 team that thinks getting into the top 10 will help elevate your program and your career you are probably highly interested. This is a kid that has shown he can be a high AA, and his 15+ points could be the difference between 18th and 10th. The difference between those places could be one wrestler and perception is everything.
It depends upon the field he's studying. Some Master's cost a lot (like an MBA), but others are not only free, they come with a salary.
Several of those masters paths also require being in a lab/classroom from 8:00 AM-6:00PM. They are a lot more demanding than the typical take a couple classes and pass a test.
I see your point (and PBS). Last year, 16 point would have taken 24th place all by itself.
If you were Epperly why would you want to go to Iowa next year, if you only have one year to compete? In most "normal" years, sure, Iowa would be right in the mix for a team title, but next year Iowa looks like a borderline top 5 team with no real shot to be in the team hunt. Seems unnatural to say it, but Iowa wrestling has to have a "rebuilding year" next year. It is a two team race between Penn State and Ohio State. And lets be honest it is really Penn State's Title to lose by a pretty wide margin despite Ohio State's team being potentially their greatest ever. Some people think next year's Ohio State's team could be a top 10 team all time and still not be that close to catching Penn State. Don't crucify me for writing that. I don't personally believe that, but just thinking about what Epperly could potentially be hearing. Then look at the 174 situation at those two schools and nationwide, Hall and Bo Jordan. Hall is just starting and already a Nationally Champ and Bo Jordan when healthy is just sensational. The fact that Bo Jordan won BIG 10's and made the NCAA finals with one foot is pretty unbelievable. Then add the fact that the three of the top 4 finishers were Freshmen, Valencia and Amine being the other two, and 174 doesn't look that inviting.
The only way I could see Epperly being interested in finishing would be if he went with Dresser to Iowa State out of loyalty to him and to help him turn that program around quickly. Or if he stayed at VT out of loyalty to the program, to help them bridge the gap to a new coaching staff. Anything else makes very little sense to me and obviously Epperly has said he is done and won't be wrestling or going to grad school anywhere next season, so this is pretty much a mute discussion. I wish good luck to Epperly though where ever life may take him. He will always be a two time All American and that is no small feat.
Interestingly, in the 2016 NCAA tournament he scored bonus points in 5 of his 7 victories en route to his 3rd place finish and scored bonus points on 4 seeded wrestlers. He also avenged his only loss of that tournament in the 3rd place match. He lost in the opening round to unseeded Casey Kent of Penn, 3-2. He then wrestled Kent again for 3rd place and avenged his loss by a score of 8-4. I find stuff like this interesting for some reason. I suppose that is why I am on a wrestling forum in April. http://i.turner.ncaa.com/sites/default/files/images/2016/03/19/session5-brackets.pdf
The only way I could see Epperly being interested in finishing would be if he went with Dresser to Iowa State out of loyalty to him and to help him turn that program around quickly. Or if he stayed at VT out of loyalty to the program, to help them bridge the gap to a new coaching staff. Anything else makes very little sense to me and obviously Epperly has said he is done and won't be wrestling or going to grad school anywhere next season, so this is pretty much a mute discussion. I wish good luck to Epperly though where ever life may take him. He will always be a two time All American and that is no small feat.
Interestingly, in the 2016 NCAA tournament he scored bonus points in 5 of his 7 victories en route to his 3rd place finish and scored bonus points on 4 seeded wrestlers. He also avenged his only loss of that tournament in the 3rd place match. He lost in the opening round to unseeded Casey Kent of Penn, 3-2. He then wrestled Kent again for 3rd place and avenged his loss by a score of 8-4. I find stuff like this interesting for some reason. I suppose that is why I am on a wrestling forum in April. http://i.turner.ncaa.com/sites/default/files/images/2016/03/19/session5-brackets.pdf
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Off topic, but I wish someone would take a look at the statistics on an in-tournament rematch for 3rd. Anecdotally, I feel like the winning percentage in the 3/4 match for the loser of the topside matchup is much better than 50% maybe as high as 2 in 3 times. Hard to beat a guy twice in one tournament when abilities are similar (as evidenced many times by both being in 3/4 match) and the topside loser has revenge in his corner.
"Take a free masters degree" is a real good reason for some college athletes to not return for the 5th year. Many employers will pay for grad school (evenings/weekends) -- and pay a good salary as well.
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Sorry to inform you but most schools don't have system fiqured out like Cael has who can get in 2 years 20 top 1-5 top kids in their high school ratings. Now if he only would share how to some of the teams that can't get any and have one even make AA it would make things more interesting.
You make some good points that I need to think about and discuss with some of my buddies. I wasn't thinking about some of the lower ranked teams and what a difference it would make to have a wrestler standing on the podium...especially those schools in small markets where news like a wrestler making AA would be taken very seriously.
You'd be trying to convince some dumber wrestlers to come into your program. Anybody with a bit of analytical skill would recognize (1) the small program didn't develop him, and (2) he's gone after that year so likely his influence as even a training partner is limited.
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