2025 EIWA Championships

[JAD77]

HFO. Woah, Woah, Woah. Not enough rooms in Bucknell is not a problem to me. Have a campsite in the State Forest.

Not only that, but there is Vrbo and Airbnb. I'm impatient, and didn't want to wait for the Wrestling Club to book their block of rooms. I booked through Vrbo last April, and have a very nice 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment one block from Bucknell - a 4 minute walk to Sojka Pavillion. Won't have to pay for parking, and my friend and I won't have to share a room. All for $135 per night - less than a hotel room.

Just a tip from someone who worked in the hotel industry - with hotel rooms - book early before they realize there is something in town and jack up the rates (that usually happens about 8-9 months out - earlier for something as large as the NCAA's) . Rooms become available online 360 days out - that is when I always book if I know I need one. The Wrestling Club really should be booking their block at least 18 months out - much better selection and rates that way. I'll book my 2025 Philly NCAA rooms the day after this years NCAA's end.

And I disagree - plenty of bars and restaurants in Bucknell.

The big problem with Stabler is that there is no food within walking distance, and the food inside !!SUCKS!! I believe food at Lehigh is handled by Sodexho - they should be ashamed of themselves.
Let's face it - with the 12 remaining schools, any one of the 12 schools could host the EIWA's.

[JAD77]

FloridaGuy has a very valid point. ACC is about ready to implode. In 4 or 5 years there may not be an ACC - whatever is left may end up in the SEC.

[JAD77]

As I've said earlier, Vito & Crookham will never wrestle each other again.

Mookie - what are you implying? Both names were submitted by their coaches for the EIWA's for that weight, so I would have to believe both are showing up in Lewisburg. I could understand them not wrestling each other in the EIWA's - very possible one or both may take injury default at some point. But what if both make NCAA finals?
Are you implying one of them is too injured to get that far? Or that you think one of them is not capable of making the finals? Or that Vito is going to skip the NCAA's in order to concentrate on the Olympics? Or that Ryan hasn't recovered from his injury?
You may be an ornery SOB sometimes , but you're darned knowledgeable. And when you repeat yourself, there is a reason why. Would be great if you could share

[Oracle]

Maybe we've been looking at this backwards.....point taken on long term viability of ACC, especially for wrestling.
So, point to FL Guy.

Let's flip the paradigm. Maybe the EIWA should be the ones inviting the 6, 7 with Stanford, ACC teams to join the oldest conference in the nation. 6 leave, 7 come in. Goes from 17 to 18. This is a forward thinking strategy by the ACC coaches and requires finesse. It also solves the problem of a facility capable of hosting.

Imagine the EIWA looking like this: Lehigh, Navy, Army, Stanford, North Carolina State, VA Tech, Pitt, UNC, Duke, UVA, Bucknell, American, F&M, Drexel, Hofstra, Binghamton, LIU, Sacred Heart.

Probably would generate qualifiers in excess of Big 12 and approaching the numbers of the Big 10, or maybe more. That would help recruiting immensely.

edit: The ACC could still keep track of ACC standings, All-ACC, etc but just eschew the ACC tournament in favor of the EIWA, a bigger, shinier, more prestigious event. Probably doesn't mean as much in wrestling as it does to the Ivies. BTW, Virginia was once a member.

[Richb-3]

Food at Stabler:

Remember The first year, 1980? Their was a giant hoagie event in Rauch FH. 1000s between sessions. Don't know if it always is the case But NCAA track is their weekend (at a facility owned by New Balance in Boston. FU new Balance)
so we wont even be practicing. PA HS T+F outside Started Monday I Believe. So there is no conflict.

I don't know anything about concessions. But there was a time when it was quite acceptable, but there was more wrestling there at the time.

I suppose there could be food trucks. But the food service concessionaire may object.

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Now I need to think of a couple of subs for Giant Center for tomorrow. PIAA

[FloridaGuy]

>>>>>>>> I posted a while back that there is a very legitimate chance programs like Pitt and Duke will be looking for a wrestling conference when the ACC big boys are picked off by the BiG and SEC. On a side note, if geographic location isn’t an issue, I’d opt for Air Force before Stanford.

psu leaving was much more of a gut punch than the Ivys, and yet the EIWA adapted and Lehigh achieved some of it’s best performance ever in the 5-10 years after pus and Pitt bolted to create a new, now extinct, conf.

Would not surprise me if Lehigh wrestling thrives in a scaled down, but still solid, EIWA.

[Oracle]

Scaled down, yes. Solid, hardly.

An EIWA (ECAC) that attracts wrestling programs from the ACC if they become extinct would make it very solid.

IMO.

[Richb-3]

Well I guess transportation is not a problem for Air Force. LOL

[martinsilvestri]

An EIWA (ECAC) that attracts wrestling programs from the ACC if they become extinct would make it very solid.

thats my hope with all this. a weak eiwa (for now at least) is just an inevitability. i can't see lehigh going anywhere else realistically.

on the other hand, there is so much absolute chaos going on with many of these other conferences. if they can make the eiwa an attractive option for others jumping the sinking ships, seems like thats probably the best bet for rebuilding. i wonder how that could be done.

[FloridaGuy]

>>>>>>>> Yes—- the scaled down EIWA will be a solid, middle of the pack conference.

The BiG is the best by light years, followed by the Big X11, then the ACC ( with Stanford) and then the EIWA. The Ivys, MAC, SoCon and whatever is left from the Pac will be the weakest conferences.

The scaled down EIWA will have 10-11 members and will not be in danger of dissolving or losing its position as an NCAA qualifier conf. Nine teams with a history of producing NCAA qualifiers in a conf positioned to accept new members is pretty solid in these uncertain times