NEW YORK CITY – Competing against the best NCAA Division I talent in the country, VMI freshman 157-pounder Neal Richards was eliminated from the NCAA Wrestling Championships after two losses Thursday at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The South Chesterfield, Virginia native fell to South Dakota State's Cody Pack by a 9-1 score in the opening round in the afternoon before being eliminated by West Virginia's Dylan Cottrell by the same tally in the evening round of wrestlebacks.

Against Pack, Richards fell behind 4-1 after the first period as he earned an escape point following Pack's first takedown. Pack would go on to add two more takedowns in the other two periods plus riding time to advance to the championship second round.

The fate was similar against West Virginia's Cottrell as Richards got down 4-0 after the opening period and was unable to gain sufficient momentum to make a run for a victory.

Richards finishes his freshman season with a 21-11 overall record. He qualified for NCAAs by way of a true second-place finish at the SoCon tournament two weeks ago and was the first VMI grappler to qualify for the national tournament since Josh Wine accomplished the feat in 2011.