With the eighth-place finish, Neff became the Bald Eagles' 39th All-American and first since 2007.
The three-day tournament began Thursday morning and runs through tonight's (8 p.m. EST) finals at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.
After dropping his opening match of the tournament on Thursday morning to the No. 2 seed and returning National Champion, Neff rattled off four straight wins and guaranteed himself All-American status.
Neff was 3-1 yesterday and entered today's action at 4-2 in the tournament.
Today (Saturday), Neff met Old Dominion's Alexander Richardson, the eighth seed in the seventh-place match.
Neff gained the upper hand early and took Richardson down, but Richardson was quick to escape. With Neff leading 2-1, Richardson scored a takedown.
Shortly after a late first-period restart, Richardson tilted Neff to his back and earned the pin at the 2:39 mark.
The loss moved Neff to 4-3 for the tournament.
The 4-3 record this week pushed Neff to 6-7 all-time at the NCAA Championships. This marked his third straight NCAA Championship appearance after reaching the sport's biggest stage in each of the last two seasons at 141 pounds.
Neff closes the season with a 25-15 record and will enter his final season as Bald Eagle next year with an 82-34 career record.
Heading into tonight's finals, Lock Haven is 37th overall in the team standings.
The Bald Eagles sit ahead of three Big Ten teams, including Maryland, Purdue and Michigan State. LHU will also finish ahead of local-rival Bucknell, as well as traditionally-strong programs - Penn, Wyoming, Boise State and Central Michigan. Wyoming (#16), Purdue (#23), Bucknell (#24) and Central Michigan (RV) were all ranked in the final 2014-15 USA Today/NWCA National poll.
Today's action marks the end of the season for second-year head coach Scott Moore and his Bald Eagles. Neff's All-American honor highlights another strong here for LHU and it marks the first All-American in the head coaching career of Moore.
For the second straight year Moore and his coaching staff have guided three or more student-athletes into NCAA Tournament. Last season, LHU sent four guys to Oklahoma City.
Neff was joined by both Ronnie Perry (Christiana, Pa./Solanco) and Fred Garcia (Donora, Pa./Ringgold) at this week's championships. Perry (133) was making his NCAA Tournament debut, while Garcia, a senior capped a sensational Haven career with a third straight trip to NCAA's.
During the 2014-15 season LHU went 3-3 in EWL action (7-12 overall). The three conference wins mark Lock Haven's most EWL wins since the Bald Eagles were 3-3 during the 2004-05 season. At the 2015 EWL Championships (March 7), Lock Haven finished third overall with 101.5 points, thanks to a strong all-around day that saw all 10 wrestlers place among the top-five and nine, who finished fourth or better. It marks the second straight season where LHU has finished third at the EWL Championships. Last year when the Bald Eagles took third, it marked their highest finish since 2007.
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