So Who are those guys in Spandex, Learn more about our Grapplers

Im on a roll right now so lets crank out another piece. Time to meet our coaches and starters:

The Head Honcho, Coach Kevin Dresser
Kevin Dresser is a former 1986 national Champion from Iowa. He was so good that he has a move named after him, the Dresser dump. After his time at Iowa Dresser fortuitously ended up at Grundy HS in SWVA. He built grundy into a national HS power before moving to christiansburg to do the same. Many of our best wrestlers come from Cburg thanks to Kevin Dresser.

The Right Hand Man, Tony Robie
Tony Robie is a bit like Kevin Dresser's version of Bud Foster. Previously a head coach at Binghamton University, Robie moved down the food chain to coach at Tech. During his wrestling days he wrestled for Edinboro, a PA powerhouse, and later took Bronze at a US open. In my humble opinion he is the draw that stirs the drink for recruiting PA kids. Bald Man power!

A Living Tech Legend, Dave Hoffman
Hoffman is a living Gap between the old Era of VT wrestling and the modern successes. He holds or is second for a lot of tech records, and was our 5th ever All-american. Hoffmans the glue that bind the program and adds the local family flavor to the staff.

"Wild Bill" Mike Zadick
Zadick is the newest addition to the staff. Zadick is a former 2008 olympian and adds a world class element to our staff. He's a true Montana wild man and adds a fierce beard to match.

The Team
125, Joey Dance
Joey Dance has been a high profile guy for a long time. He wrestled in the FILA Juniors World Team Trials, a sort of world cup for wrestling. Dance gained fame for a beautiful moved called a superduck, which he hit with frightening frequency throughout HS. I have affectionately nicknamed him the "Appalachian spider money", which i hope will stick. Dance is both a moustache afficianado and an avowed cat person:

133, Dennis Gustafson
Dennis is the type of kid that makes a program. A good but not great VA kid coming out of HS, gustafson has worked his rear off to become a very good wrestler for the hokies, fighting through a bunch of injuries along the way. His greatest contribution thus far was a 2014 ACC tournament where he wrestled well above expectations, winning an individual title at 133 and clinching the ACC championship for the hokies. He has since grown some impressive flo and could compete with any ACC lax player. In his first tournament back he hit tilt after tilt, looking very comfortable racking up victories.

141, Solomon Chishko
Chishko on the other hand has gone down the other path, shaving his head in an attempt to become as aerodynamic as possible. A quiet guy, Solomon is being a major team player this year and is cutting to 141 so we dont have a gaping hole in the lineup. Along the way he's added some pretty impressive scalps in a weight class thats totally up for grabs. Chishko has a beautiful double leg attack and a mean ankle pick as well. And his PA HS experience means he rides very well for a young wrestler.

149, Sal Mastriani
Sal's our wrestling equivalent of a fullback. A relative newcomer to wrestling, as he was a very good linebacker in NJ through HS, Sal wins a lot of his matches on a combination of guts and effort. He's made a ton of progress technically, but when the chips are down, you know he's coming forward relentlessly with his high crotch leg attach. When he is on top he has a super painful and effective move called a Bow and Arrow. He basically takes his opponents ankle and tries to touch it to the back of his head, then rolls him over to try to pin him. Good stuff.

157, Nick Brascetta
Nick is our crafty old man. He's been there done that in almost every situation. And unfortunately he comes a year after devin, otherwise he might be best known as Tech first ever 3x All american. Brascetta has this awesome firemans carry attack that he makes look effortless. He also has a nasty habit of pretending to let his opponent escape only to pounce and pin them.

165, David McFadden
McFadden is jersey to the core and talks with an accent so thick youd swear he's from another country. The true freshmen wrestles on heart and hes the type of guy you dont bet against in the third period. His production this year has been better than expected and he's a large reason why the hokies have trophy hopes in march. Stylistically, he's a fantastic chain wrestler, moving from one attack and position to another seamlessly. He also passes legs very well for a big man, something he shares with epperly. If he ends up in a head to toe exchange, expect him to come out the back door and hook his opponents leg for the TD.

174, Zach Epperly
Another one of the quiet guys on the team, it seems every picture taken of him is best captioned with "MOM MADE PIZZA ROLLS!" Now i dont want to put extra pressure on him, but epperly has a chance to become VT's first 4x All American, a really significant achievement for our program. Offensively, he has the whole arsenal, and he really shines in the top position, with a variety of ride techniques to crush his opponents.

184, Zack Zavatsky
Nicknamed Stork for his lanky stature, Zavatsky like chishko is a highly recruited PA import, whos went through a real breakout phase in december, knocking off a lot of highly ranked wrestlers. His go to move has thus far been a sweet ankle pick. And he really shines when he rides opponents, showcasing a beautiful tilt that he can blow a match open with.

197, Jared Haught
In a single phrase, Jared Haught is a West Virginia Godzilla. Full stop. Country boy strong and chiseled out of marble Haught is slowly building into a stellar upperweight wrestler for tech. He has a beautiful high crotch attack (which he needs to use more often). Jared is also the wrestler i am totally irrational about, predicting hi to upset everyone before eventually winning the national championship. Its gonna happen, you heard it here first.

285, Ty Walz
In my opinion, the heart and soul of this team, Ty is just a chubby kid who likes to lift a lot of weight and eat a lot of eggs and chicken. We have convinced him to put on a singlet from time to time and its worked out pretty well. In all seriousness, Walz is that diamond in the rough. We knew he could be a good HWT, but no one in their right mind thought he could challenge for a National Championship in his junior year. And that not hyperbole, Walz is that good. He's improved worlds on the offensive side, adding both a low and snatch single to his stellar high crotch. He also has a great interview series where he explains why he's named ty:

184/197, Austin Gabel
Id be at fault if i didnt at least mention austin gabel. As tech improves, our line up gets more and more packed. Gabel suffered an injury and seems to have lost his spot to Zavatsky. Depth like Gabel is what drives a program from good to elite. He's split time between 174, 184 and 197 in his career. Gabel always looks like he's been in a car wreck after he wrestles. He's defensively very good and also chain wrestles well at 184.