WASHINGTON - Ten wrestlers from American University are set to compete at the 119th Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Championships on Saturday and Sunday, March 4-5 at the Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. The two-day competition determines who will earn allocated spots at each weight class for the NCAA Championships.

CHAMPIONSHIPS INFORMATION

• The historic Palestra on Penn's campus is the site of this year's tournament, which begins with Session 1 on Saturday, March 4 at 10:30 a.m.
• The second session on Saturday begins at 4:30 p.m., and Sunday's action begins at 10:15 a.m.
• The EIWA Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, and two-time All-American Ryan Flores (‘12) of AU will be one of the honored inductees.
• The EIWA field includes 17 Division I institutions in the northeast, including Patriot League and Ivy League schools that sponsor wrestling.
• Lehigh had won three team titles until host Cornell came out on top in 2021-22. The Big Red are currently ranked #8 in the nation, while this year's host, Penn, is ranked 24th.
• The EIWA is the oldest collegiate athletic conference in the nation.

AMERICAN NOTES

• American earned eight dual victories in 2022-23, showing huge improvement over the prior season that saw the Eagles win just one. The eight wins matches the Eagles for the most dual victories in the last 12 years. AU has now recorded eight victories four times (2011-12, 2014-15, 2017-18, 2022-23) since going 14-7 in 2010-11.
• The Eagles had one of their best days in recent program history on January 22 as they earned three one-point victories to take the team title at the Chippewa Challenge. The three opponents—Central Michigan, CSU Bakersfield and Campbell—had all easily defeated AU last year.
• Overall, AU has 52 pins this season which is 16 more than last season’s overall total of 36 pins.
• Ranking in a tie for third in NCAA Division I in total pins this season is sophomore Maximilian Leete (125) with 11. He has also cracked the top 10 all-time at AU and now ranks in a tie for 10th with 17 career pins in only his second season.
• Leete has the most wins for AU this season at 21-11, followed by sophomore Jack Maida (133) and freshman Caleb Campos (165) who are both 17-11 overall.
• American’s captains in 2022-23 are redshirt junior Connor Bourne, redshirt junior Will Jarrell, and redshirt senior Patrick Ryan.
• Five Eagles who competed in the EIWA Championships in 2021-22 are back on the mat for the conference meet this season, including Maida who placed fourth at 133 pounds as a freshman last year. Maida was the only AU wrestler to advance to the second day of EIWAs a year ago.
• Redshirt senior Patrick Ryan, now at 149, took eighth at 141 at the EIWA meet two years ago.
• AU was 15th at the EIWAs in 2022 and ninth in 2020. The Eagles sent three wrestlers in 2021 and placed ninth of 10 teams. From 2016-19, AU had three seventh-place finishes and one sixth-place finish (2018). 

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Each weight class has an allocation of spots from the NCAA, and a wrestler who finishes among that group earns a berth to the Nationals, to be held March 16 to 18 in Tulsa, Okla.
• Once the automatic-qualifying spots have been determined over each conference tournament nationally this weekend, the NCAA will announce at-large invitations and final brackets early next week.
   

STAY CONNECTED

• For more information on AU Wrestling, follow the team on Twitter @AU_Wrestling, Instagram @au_wrestling and Facebook @AU.Wrestling.