Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association


The Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association is an NCAA Division I collegiate wrestling conference. It held its first championship tournament in 1905, making it the oldest wrestling conference in the NCAA. The EIWA's charter members were Columbia, Penn, Princeton, and Yale. Thirty-three different schools have been members of the EIWA during its history, all schools from the Eastern United States. Its current members are schools in the Northeast whose main conferences do not sponsor wrestling, including the Patriot League, America East Conference, Northeast Conference, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, and Coastal Athletic Association. Franklin & Marshall College is the only Division III school that competes in Division I wrestling.

Current members

The EIWA currently has 12 members:
At the 2011 NCAA Wrestling Championship, three EIWA teams placed in the top 10: Cornell placed 2nd, American University placed 5th, and Lehigh University placed 8th. In 2012, Cornell finished 4th and Lehigh 8th; Cornell was also 5th in 2013 and 7th in 2014.
In the same period, the EIWA had forty-four All-Americans; also, Kyle Dake of Cornell was awarded the Dan Hodge Trophy as national wrestler of the year and was named most outstanding wrestler of the NCAA tournament after becoming the first NCAA wrestler ever to win four national championships in four different weight classes in consecutive years.
In 2013, the EIWA absorbed Boston University, Hofstra, Drexel, and Binghamton after the Colonial Athletic Association ceased sponsorship of wrestling, making an 18-team conference for the 2013–14 season. The EIWA was reduced to 16 in 2014-15 with the departure of Rutgers to the Big Ten Conference and discontinuation of the BU program.
The most recent change in the EIWA membership was announced in April 2019. Long Island University announced that the wrestling team that had represented its Post campus in Division II would join the EIWA once the merger of the athletic programs of its Brooklyn and Post campuses took effect in July 2019. The renamed LIU Sharks joined NEC rival Sacred Heart, bringing the conference to seventeen members.
For the 2020–21 season, the EIWA had ten schools competing, as the six Ivy League schools and the Centennial Conference did not hold winter sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On December 19, 2023, the six Ivy League members announced that they were leaving the EIWA to compete exclusively under the Ivy League banner starting in the 2024–25 season.
On September 19, 2024, Morgan State University, a program that resumed competition in 2023 after a 26-year hiatus and the lone Division I HBCU wrestling program, joined the EIWA. Morgan State is the first HBCU to join the EIWA.

Membership timeline


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bar:3 color:PR from:1920 till:2024 text:
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bar:4 color:YL from:1920 till:1941 text:
bar:4 color:YL from:1947 till:1991 text:
bar:5 color:CR from:1908 till:2024 textcolor:white text:Cornell
bar:6 color:LE from:1913 till:end textcolor:white text:Lehigh
bar:7 color:PS from:1918 till:1974 textcolor:white text:Penn State
bar:8 color:SY from:1925 till:1943 textcolor:blue text:Syracuse
bar:8 color:SY from:1947 till:1970 text:
bar:8 color:SY from:1972 till:2001 text:
bar:9 color:HV from:1934 till:1941 textcolor:white text:Harvard
bar:9 color:HV from:1943 till:1943 text:
bar:9 color:HV from:1947 till:2024 text:
bar:10 color:ARB from:1941 till:end textcolor:yellow text:Army
bar:11 color:NVG from:1941 till:end textcolor:blue text:Navy
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bar:12 color:DA from:1947 till:1949 text:
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bar:15 color:MMB from:1947 till:1947 text:Merchant Marine
bar:16 color:FM from:1948 till:end textcolor:white text:Franklin & Marshall
bar:17 color:BR from:1948 till:1964 textcolor:white text:Brown
bar:17 color:BR from:1985 till:2024 text:
bar:18 color:TE from:1948 till:1986 textcolor:white text:Temple
bar:19 color:RT from:1950 till:1979 textcolor:white text:Rutgers
bar:19 color:RT from:1987 till:2014 text:
bar:20 color:PTB from:1954 till:1975 textcolor:yellow text:Pittsburgh
bar:21 color:CL from:1956 till:1957 textcolor:white text:Colgate
bar:21 color:CL from:1965 till:1982 text:
bar:22 color:SP from:1956 till:1957 textcolor:white text:Springfield
bar:23 color:WKB from:1976 till:1997 textcolor:yellow text:Wilkes
bar:24 color:ESR from:1977 till:2009 text:East Stroudsburg
bar:25 color:WMGL from:1980 till:1991 textcolor:WMGR text:William & Mary
bar:26 color:BKO from:2000 till:2002 textcolor:blue text:Bucknell
bar:26 color:BKO from:2007 till:end text:
bar:27 color:AMR from:2003 till:end textcolor:AMB text:American
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bar:30 color:DRG from:2014 till:end textcolor:blue text:Drexel
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bar:32 color:BU from:2014 till:2014 shift: textcolor:white text: Boston University
bar:33 color:LIU from:2019 till:end shift: textcolor:yellow text: LIU
bar:34 color:MSU from:2024 till:end shift: textcolor:orange text: Morgan State
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text:"Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Membership History"

Former EIWA schools

League champions

* Tie for team title

Total championships