Richards and Starner Each Earn Third-Place at Keystone Classic

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Red-shirt junior Neal Richards and red-shirt senior Hunter Starner each earned third-place finishes Sunday as the VMI wrestling team took part in the Keystone Classic, hosted by the University of Pennsylvania in the Palestra.

Starner started his march to a medal with a 5-3 win at 133 pounds over Doug Zapf of Penn. After suffering a 9-4 defeat to Chandler Olson, he won an 8-6 decision over Herb Edwards of Rider and scored another 5-3 victory over Zapf to claim third place.

At 174 pounds, Richards defeated Jake Hendricks (14-4, major decision) of Penn and Bryan McLaughlin of Drexel (13-6) before falling 5-0 to #2-ranked Mark Hall from Penn State. Richards rebounded by pinning George Walton of Rider in 2:51 to reach the third-place match. He defeated McLaughlin 13-4 to finish third.

Clifton Conway and Jakob Kennedy each won a match at 125 and 165 pounds, respectively.  

The Keydets return to action on Saturday, December 1 with dual matches against Davidson and Sacred Heart at Davidson College.