Early Round VT Forecast - Zach Epperly at 174 lbs
Round 1:
Zach Epperly (19-1) is the #4 seed and will face unseeded Nick Reenan (20-11) of NC State.
They are very familiar with each other as Epperly won two close hard fought matches this year including 5-3 at the Dual and 4-1 in the ACCT. Epperly is 5-1 against common opponents while Reenan is 3-6 against common opponents. Reenan went 2-2 in the ACC Tournament to finish in 4th place while Epperly went 2-0 and won the ACCT.
Epperly should win again and I will go with 6-2.
Round of 32:
Epperly will get #13 Taylor Lujan (27-4) in this round, unless a major upset occurs. Lujan was 4-4 against common opponents while Epperly was 5-1.
Epperly beat Lujan 9-7 early this year at the VT-UNI Dual in a very high energy match. Lujan is 2-4 vs Top 20 opponents while Epperly was 4-1. Lujan recently won the MAC Tournament.
I expect a much controlled match this time as Epperly will have a little better understanding of what Lujan is about. Say 7-4.
[Post edited by hokietony at 03/15/2017 9:05PM]
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Posted: 03/15/2017 at 9:04PM