The Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) was an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Division I wrestling-only

conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

. It was made up mostly of schools from the

northeastern United States The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic coast of North America, with Canada to its north, the Southe ...

whose primary conferences did not sponsor

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

as an NCAA-qualifying event. The teams had traditionally rotated as hosts of the qualifying tournament. The league's inaugural season was in 1976 (during the 1975–76 academic year) and had a charter group led by

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, Buffalo and three

Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. The conference was originally formed in 1951 as the State Teachers C ...

(PSAC) schools in Bloomsburg,

Clarion Clarion may refer to: Music * Clarion (instrument), a type of trumpet used in the Middle Ages * The register of a clarinet that ranges from B4 to C6 * A trumpet organ stop that usually plays an octave above unison pitch * "Clarion" (song), a 2 ...

and

Lock Haven Lock Haven is the county seat of Clinton County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Located near the confluence of the West Branch Susquehanna River and Bald Eagle Creek, it is the principal city of the Lock Haven Micropolitan Statistical Area, ...

. After 1977, Buffalo left the league, but

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

and

Cleveland State Cleveland State University (CSU) is a public research university in Cleveland, Ohio. It was established in 1964 and opened for classes in 1965 after acquiring the entirety of Fenn College, a private school that had been in operation since 1923. ...

were added, growing the league to seven teams. In 1988–89, the PSAC's Edinboro joined to form an eight-team league. After the 1991–92 season, Penn State left the league when the university joined the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

, which holds its own NCAA Division I Championships qualifying tournament. In 1998–99,

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

joined the league, but the Hokies left following the 2003–04 season and joined the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC) after receiving an invitation to join for all sports. West Virginia left the EWL when it became an all-sports member of the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

in July 2012 and Pittsburgh moved to the ACC in July 2013. In 2013, the league announced that

George Mason George Mason (October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, one of the three delegates present who refused to sign the Constitution. His writings, including s ...

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 The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Most of its members are public universi ...

, with George Mason being a full CAA member and Rider an associate whose primary conference ( MAAC) does not sponsor wrestling. GMU left the CAA and joined the non-wrestling

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

. The departure of George Mason also led to the end of CAA sponsorship of wrestling in 2013. Four of the other EWL schools are normally members of the Division II PSAC. Cleveland State, which had announced it would drop wrestling at the end of the 2015–16 school year, but later reinstated the program without interruption, is a member of the non-wrestling

Horizon League The Horizon League is an 11-school collegiate athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, whose members are located in and near the Great Lakes region. The Horizon League founded in 1979 as the Midw ...

. On March 5, 2019, the seven members of the EWL accepted affiliate membership to the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

starting in the 2019-2020 season.

Schools

Final members

Bloomsburg Huskies The Bloomsburg Huskies (formerly known as the Bloomsburg State Huskies) are the athletic teams that represent Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, located in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Huskies are ...

(1975–2019) *

Clarion Golden Eagles The Clarion Golden Eagles are the athletic teams that represent Pennsylvania Western University Clarion (known before July 2022 as Clarion University of Pennsylvania), located in Clarion, Pennsylvania, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. ...

(1975–2019) *

Cleveland State Vikings The Cleveland State Vikings, or Vikes, are the athletic teams of Cleveland State University. Before as Fenn College they were known as the Fenn College Foxes or Fenn Foxes. Cleveland State competes in NCAA Division I. The Vikings have competed in ...

(1977–2019) *

Edinboro Fighting Scots The Edinboro Fighting Scots are the athletic teams that represent Pennsylvania Western University Edinboro (known before July 2022 as Edinboro University of Pennsylvania), located in Edinboro, Pennsylvania, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate s ...

(1988–2019) *

George Mason Patriots The George Mason Patriots are the intercollegiate athletic teams representing George Mason University (GMU), located in Fairfax, Virginia. The Patriots compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as members of th ...

(2013–2019) *

Lock Haven Bald Eagles The Lock Haven Bald Eagles are the intercollegiate sports teams of Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania, located in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. LHU participates in NCAA Division II as a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) f ...

(1975–2019) *

Rider Broncs The Rider Broncs are the athletic teams of Rider University, a private nonsectarian university in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, United States. The school is a Division I member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and its athletes ...

(2013–2019)

Schools leaving before 2018–19

Buffalo Bulls The Buffalo Bulls are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University at Buffalo (UB) in Buffalo, New York. The Bulls compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level as a member of Mid-Am ...

(1975–1977) *

Millersville Marauders The Millersville Marauders are the athletic teams that represent Millersville University of Pennsylvania, located in Millersville, Pennsylvania, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Marauders are members of the Pennsylvania State Ath ...

(1981–1984) *

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The interco ...

(1975–1992) *

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facu ...

(1975–2013) *

Virginia Tech Hokies The Virginia Tech Hokies are the athletic teams representing the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in intercollegiate athletics. The Hokies participate in the NCAA's Division I Atlantic Coast Conference in 22 va ...

(1998–2004) *

West Virginia Mountaineers The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent West Virginia University, an American university located in Morgantown, West Virginia. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I. The Moun ...

(1977–2012)

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1975 till:2019 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:20 left:20 bottom:20 top:0 Colors = id:barcolor id:line value:black id:bg value:white id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:barcolor from:1975 till:1977 text: Buffalo (1975–1977) bar:2 color:barcolor from:1975 till:1992 text:

(1975–1992) bar:3 color:barcolor from:1975 till:2013 text:

(1975–2013) bar:4 color:barcolor from:1975 till:end text: Bloomsburg (1975–2019) bar:5 color:barcolor from:1975 till:end text:

(1975–2019) bar:6 color:barcolor from:1975 till:end text:

(1975–2019) bar:7 color:barcolor from:1977 till:2012 text:

(1977–2012) bar:8 color:barcolor from:1977 till:end text:

(1977–2019) bar:9 color:barcolor from:1981 till:1984 text: Millersville (1981–1984) bar:10 color:barcolor from:1988 till:end text: Edinboro (1988–2019) bar:11 color:barcolor from:1998 till:2004 text:

(1998–2004) bar:12 color:barcolor from:2013 till:end text:

(2013–2019) bar:13 color:barcolor from:2013 till:end text: Rider (2013–2019) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1975

Team dual meet champions

EWL Team Dual Meet Champions *1976 Penn State *1977 Penn State *1978 Penn State *1979 Cleveland State *1980 Clarion *1981 Clarion *1982 Penn State *1983 Penn State *1984 Penn State *1985 Penn State *1986 Penn State & Clarion *1987 Penn State *1988 Penn State *1989 Penn State *1990 West Virginia *1991 West Virginia *1992 Penn State *1993 Lock Haven & Bloomsburg *1994 Edinboro *1995 Lock Haven *1996 Edinboro *1997 Edinboro *1998 West Virginia *1999 Edinboro *2000 Edinboro *2001 Edinboro *2002 West Virginia *2003 West Virginia *2004 Edinboro *2005 Edinboro *2006 Edinboro *2007 Edinboro *2008 Edinboro *2009 Edinboro *2010 Pittsburgh *2011 Pittsburgh *2012 Pittsburgh *2013 Bloomsburg *2014 Edinboro *2015 Edinboro *2016 Edinboro *2017 Edinboro *2018 Edinboro and Rider *2019 Lock Haven

Team tournament champions

EWL Team Tournament Champions *1976 Penn State *1977 Penn State *1978 Penn State *1979 Cleveland State *1980 Clarion *1981 Bloomsburg *1982 Penn State *1983 Penn State *1984 Penn State *1985 Penn State *1996 Penn State *1987 Penn State *1988 Penn State *1989 Penn State *1990 Penn State *1991 Penn State *1992 Penn State *1993 Bloomsburg *1994 Clarion *1995 Clarion *1996 West Virginia *1997 Lock Haven *1998 Edinboro *1999 Edinboro *2000 Edinboro *2001 Edinboro *2002 West Virginia *2003 Edinboro *2004 Edinboro & West Virginia *2005 Edinboro *2006 Edinboro *2007 Edinboro *2008 Edinboro *2009 Edinboro *2010 Edinboro *2011 Pittsburgh *2012 Pittsburgh *2013 Pittsburgh *2014 Edinboro *2015 Edinboro *2016 Riderhttps://www.nmnathletics.com//pdf9/4588609.pdf *2017 Edinboro *2018 Lock Haven *2019 Lock Haven

References

External links

* {{Eastern Wrestling League Sports leagues established in 1975 Sports leagues disestablished in 2019