Marty Gordon
NRVsports@mainstreetnewspapers.com
Christiansburg High School supporters have announced a new class of sports hall of fame.
The honors were presented at halftime of Friday night’s game against Carroll County.
The Christiansburg High School Athletic Hall of Fame Committee inducted the first 24 members to the Hall of Fame in 2023 and another five in 2024. These classes comprised coaches, athletes, and program supporters that has spanned more than six decades of CHS athletics, multi-sport letter winners, district/region/state champions, all-Americans, and Olympic participants, and this only scratches the surface of the number of athletes and coaches that have roamed the halls at CHS through the years.
The Hall of Fame committee uses public nominations and historical statistics to induct up to five new members each year.
The new group includes:
BJ Compton, a 2004 graduate of CHS who left his mark as one of the most decorated wrestlers in CHS history. While at Christiansburg, Compton was a four-time district, region, and VHSL State Champion in wrestling. He was also a four-time Virginia USA national wrestling team member and completed his wrestling career at Christiansburg with an impressive record of 178 wins -12 losses, including 100 pins. Compton was a four-time All Timesland team member and was the All Timesland Wrestler of the year during his senior year.
Compton was a Top 50 Overall National Recruit and ranked in the top 10 nationally at his weight class. He was voted Dave Shultz award winner, an award for the best wrestler in the state of Virginia. Compton was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and received a Division 1 Athletic Scholarship to Old Dominion University.
After college, he went on to be a wrestling coach at Poquoson High School in Virginia. He coached wrestling teams to multiple district, regional and state titles. While on staff he had multiple wrestlers win State championships and national All-American status as well as go on to wrestle at the college level. His club teams won the Club State Championship as the best wrestling club in Virginia for Freestyle and Greco-Roman.
The theme of wrestling continued with the induction of an entire family that has dedicated themselves to the CHS wrestling program, Jeff, Elise, Matt, Brady and Zach Epperly.
Jeff Epperly is a 1981 graduate of CHS where he wrestled for Coach Dean Underwood for three years. In his senior year he was the district and region champ and placed third in the state. Jeff and Elise got married in 1985 and began traveling together to every wrestling tournament across multiple states that they could make it to. When their boys came along, they were taken on the road with them and started their wrestling careers.
Jeff and Elise got involved with the wrestling club when it had just a handful of members that would meet in the health room at the high school once a month. Elise served as treasurer and secretary on the executive board for a while and then continued to serve as members of the Blue Demon Wrestling Club. Jeff helped with coaching the youth program and would help with tournament set-ups and working score tables. Elise tirelessly would work the tournaments with setting up brackets, working score tables, and anything else that needed to be done. Jeff is employed with American Electric Power and Elise began working in the main office at CHS in Jan. 2004, where she is still employed.
Matt Epperly is a 2006 graduate of CHS where he was an outstanding wrestler. Matt completed his high school wrestling career with a record of 191 wins -19 losses. He was a four-time district champ, three-time region champ and a four-time state champion for Christiansburg. Matt was also a three-time Walsh Ironman Placer and two-time Beast of the East Placer. He was ranked as the #2 overall recruit in the country as a senior and went on to attend Virginia Tech as a scholarship student-athlete in wrestling.
Brady Epperly is a 2012 graduate of CHS and was also a standout wrestler for the Blue Demons. Brady completed his wrestling career with a record of 88 wins – 19 losses. Brady was a two-time district champ, two-time region champ and a three-time state finalist. Brady is currently still supporting the Blue Demon wrestling program by helping with the youth program.
Zach Epperly is a 2013 graduate of CHS where he was also an outstanding wrestler. Zach completed his high school wrestling career with a record of 173 wins -18 losses. He was a four-time district champion, a four-time region champion and a four-time state champion. Zach was selected as the Timesland Wrestler of the Year as a Junior. In 2013, Zach was voted as the Student Athlete of the Year for the Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award. Zach was rated as the #26 overall recruit coming out of high school.
Zach attended Virginia Tech where he received a wrestling scholarship. Over the course of competing for the Hokies, he compiled an overall record of 64-16. Zach was a two-time All-American, placing 7th in 2015 and 3rd in 2016, and was an ACC Champion in 2017. Zach graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in real estate development and a minor in business. He currently resides in the Salem area with his wife, Karlie, and their two kids, Lincoln and Esmae.
The next inductee, Mike Griffith, had three older brothers, Dude, Red and Bob, who paved the way, and he was eager to continue the tradition. Being a scrawny kid, weight training became his friend to enhance athletic performance. Entering CHS, Griffith had three objectives, to be involved, to exceed academically, and earn a football scholarship as a financial means to attend college. Griffith was a class officer each year and a member of the student council. He was an active member of many clubs and activities throughout high school and attended Boys State at William and Mary.
Athletics was a staple for Griffith where he earned four letters in track, throwing the shot and discus. As a sophomore, he started as a tackle on the football team that was dominated by seniors and lost only one game that year. As a junior and senior, Griffith was honored to be selected First Team all-district both years. He received scholarship offers to play college football where he received awards and recognition. Griffith said he was blessed to have been surrounded by outstanding players and coaches and together we were highly successful.
After graduating in 1970, he returned to CHS as a teacher, assistant football coach and head track coach. In the 1973/74 school year, Griffith originated the wrestling program and served as the only coach. He recruited tough kids from the student body, who worked hard and together we established a solid foundation for the years to come.
In 1971, Griffith married the former Terry Lynn Whitescarver. They have a daughter, Michelle, and a son, Travis, who both participated in college athletics.
John Hindle is a 1999 graduate of CHS. During his time at CHS, Hindle was a standout athlete where he excelled in football, track and baseball.
In football, Hindle was a standout wide receiver for the Blue Demons. As a sophomore, he led the team with 30 catches for 421 yards and three TD’s and earned awards for All-District Wide Receiver, Timesland Sizzling Sophomore and second team All-City/County Wide Receiver. As a junior, he led the team with 28 catches for 617 yards and seven touchdowns and received awards for All-District, All-Timesland, and All-Region Wide Receiver. During his senior season, Hindle led the team with 28 catches for 858 yards and 10 touchdowns. Hindle was voted to be first team district, region and first team state at wide receiver. At that time, his 30.6 yards per catch was also a state record. Hindle finished his high school career at CHS with 86 catches for 1896 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Hindle was also an accomplished sprinter for the track team at CHS where he excelled in the 100m dash. He qualified for the state meet during his sophomore, junior, and senior years. Hindle also played baseball during his senior year where he batted .386 as a designated hitter and led the district with runs scored and stolen bases.
Over the last 20 years, Hindle has volunteered his time to continue to coach and mentor athletes from the little league to the high school level in both football and baseball. He owns Phantom Transportation in Elkton, Va. where he lives with his wife Jessica and their two children.
Phillip Oliver is a 1979 graduate of CHS where he excelled in football, baseball and track.
Oliver was an outstanding running back and linebacker during his time playing with the Demons under Head Coach Phil Robbins and assistant coaches Petrone and Underwood. During his junior season he rushed for 1180 yards including one game with 242 yards rushing on his way to be voted as second team New River District running back. During his senior year, he rushed for 1286 yards and had two games where he rushed for 278 yards one game and 308 yards in another game. Oliver was a workhorse and had one game where he carried the rock 51 times. In his senior season he was voted first team district and region running back.
Oliver also excelled on the baseball diamond where he was a three-year varsity starter and led the team in both batting average and on-base percentage during his junior and senior seasons. He also led the team in stolen bases during his senior year. In both seasons he also was voted second team New River District.
Oliver retired in January 2025 after a long career with Poly-Scientific, Inland Motors, and Moog.
Information provided by the Christiansburg High School Athletic Hall of Fame Committee
