BLACKSBURG - Virginia Tech's Matt Epperly learned Monday evening of his first round opponent at the upcoming NCAA Wrestling Championships in St. Louis. Epperly, the ACC champion at 165 pounds, will open up Thursday morning against No. 8 seed Moza Fay of Northern Iowa.

Epperly enters the Championships with a 20-8 record. Fay, who took first place at the West Regional, is 20-6.

Depending on his first-round result, the Christiansburg native will face either No. 9 seed Trevor Stewert (21-5) of Central Michigan or Roger Smith-Bergsrud (18-10) of Illinois. Stewert won the Mid-American Conference title while Smith-Bergsrud placed sixth at the Big 10 Championships. Epperly has not wrestled any of these three wrestlers this year.

The event runs Thursday through Saturday at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo. Competition begins at 11 a.m., Thursday.

The Scottrade Center was the site for the national wrestling tournament in 2000, 2004 and 2005, and will also host the event in 2009. The NCAA, University of Missouri and the St. Louis Sports Commission will co-host the event.