Eastern Wrestling League
| Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) |
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|---|---|
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| Established | 1976 |
| Association | NCAA |
| Division | Division I |
| Members | 7 |
| Sports fielded | Men's wrestling |
| Region | Northeastern United States |
The Eastern Wrestling League is an NCAA Division I wrestling-only conference. It is made up mostly of schools from the northeastern United States whose primary conferences do not sponsor wrestling as an NCAA-qualifying event. The teams have traditionally rotated as hosts of the qualifying tournament.
The league's inaugural season was in 1976 and had a charter group led by Penn State, Pittsburgh, Buffalo and three Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) schools in Bloomsburg, Clarion and Lock Haven. In 1978, Buffalo left the league, but West Virginia and Cleveland State were added, growing the league to seven teams. In 1989, the PSAC's Edinboro joined to form an eight-team league.
After the 1992 season, Penn State left the league when the university joined the Big Ten Conference, which holds its own NCAA Division I Championships qualifying tournament. In 1999, Virginia Tech joined the league, but the Hokies left following the 2004 season and joined the Atlantic Coast Conference after receiving an invitation to join for all sports. West Virginia left the EWL for the Big 12 Conference in July 2012[1][2] and Pittsburgh moved to the Atlantic Coast Conference in July 2013.
In 2013, the league announced that George Mason and Rider had accepted invitations to join the conference beginning in the 2013-14 academic year. Both schools were previously members of the Colonial Athletic Association, with George Mason being a full CAA member and Rider as associate as Rider's primary conference (MAAC) does not sponsor wrestling. GMU left the CAA and joined the non-wrestling Atlantic-10 Conference.
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Teams [edit]
- Bloomsburg Huskies (1976–present)
- Clarion Golden Eagles (1976–present)
- Cleveland State Vikings (1978–present)
- Edinboro Fighting Scots (1989–present)
- Lock Haven Bald Eagles (1976–present)
- George Mason Patriots (2013–present)
- Rider Broncos (2013–present)
Former teams [edit]
- Buffalo Bulls (1976–1977)
- Millersville Marauders (1982–1984)
- Penn State Nittany Lions (1976–1992)
- Pittsburgh Panthers (1976–2013)
- Virginia Tech Hokies (1999–2004)
- West Virginia Mountaineers (1978–2012)
Membership timeline [edit]
Team dual meet champions [edit]
EWL Team Dual Meet Champions[3]
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Team tournament champions [edit]
EWL Team Tournament Champions[3]
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References [edit]
- ^ http://www.ncaa.com/news/wrestling/article/2011-12-21/big-questions-conference-alignment
- ^ West Virginia settles lawsuit with Big East; will join Big 12 in July
- ^ a b Brown, Allen; Closson, Bruce. "Eastern Wrestling League Archive". Eastern Wrestling League. Retrieved 2011-02-11.
External links [edit]
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