VMI redshirt senior wrestler Neal Richards was named the 2019-20 Bob Waters Southern Conference Male Athlete of the Year Wednesday. Richards becomes just the second VMI student-athlete to be named the SoCon Male Athlete of the Year, the other being Johnny Mapp in 1953-54. Richards also is only the second wrestler to earn the award, joining Appalachian State’s Austin Trotman, who took the distinction in 2011-12. “Neal will go down as one of the greatest to step on the mat for VMI,” said wrestling head Keydet coach Jim Gibson. “He has embodied everything that it means to be a cadet-athlete.…

Matoaca’s Noah Roulo won the 145-pound Class 5 state wrestling championship this past weekend. He dominated the title bout, winning 11-2 over Tommy Baldwin of Princess Anne. 

Brandon Woody in action. Sophomore Brandon Woody left his mark at Matoaca High School with three state championships and went on to wrestle in college. He previously wrestled at 106 pounds, but Woody has moved up to the 141-pound class at Averett University in Danville. Woody excelled during the first week of the new year, taking home a championship at an invitational. At the Jim Crytzer Invitational on Jan. 5, Woody won his opening round match 5-1, and then pinned West Virginia Tech University’s Tanner Harris to move to the semifinal round. Woody then used the strength of four takedowns…