Though it wasn’t National Signing Day, three Matoaca athletes put the pen to paper last week, Neal Richards didn’t sign at school, he had his ceremony at home. Richards will attend Virginia Military Institute, where he will continue his wrestling and academic career.
“I liked the school and I liked the coaches too,” Richards said. “The campus is beautiful – I know people as well. The decision was a mixture of those things.”
Richards chose VMI over the Naval Academy and Maryland, the schools that recruited him most heavily. Neal made it easy for recruiters with a rock solid GPA and a 190-7 career record. The senior will graduate in June and leaves Matoaca as a four time State Champion, Region Champion and District/Conference Champion. Richards is also the all-time leader at Matoaca in career wins, a school that has flourished in the sport over the last ten years.
“Neal is a magnificent kid,” said Matoaca Wrestling Head Coach Michael Moore. “He worked hard in practice, left practice and worked hard some more.”
As Richards goes to become a Roo and eventually a Keydet in his freshman year, he’ll have two state championship rings on his fingers from his time at Matoaca and will hope to propel VMI to a Southern Conference Championship. In the fall, Richards plans to major in civil engineering.
“The program they have is good,” said Richards. “I plan to go there with the wrestling program and hopefully they can improve me, and I can help them as well.”
Richards will be missed on Matoaca’s 2015 wrestling squad, but with the year-long preparation his combatants go through, nothing will satisfy but a three-peat even without Richards on the roster.
