Hempstead, NY - The Hofstra University wrestling team joins the 16 other EIWA member institutions at Stabler Arena on the campus of Lehigh University for the 116th EIWA Championships. The EIWA is the nation's oldest wrestling conference and Lehigh is hosting the championships for the 25th time. In addition to EIWA weight class championships, wrestlers will be chasing 44 automatic berths to the NCAA Championships in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
 
The EIWA Championships get underway Friday at 11 a.m. Friday's opening session will feature the pigtail round and first round in both the championship bracket and consolations. Session two, set for 6 p.m. Friday, will feature the championship quarterfinals and a round of consolations.

Saturday's session three will begin at 10 a.m. with the championship semifinals and consolation third round. Consolation semifinals and seventh place matches will begin at approximately 11:50 a.m. The finals, featuring matches for first, third and fifth place, begin at 2:30 p.m. Saturday and will be preceded by the EIWA Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

The Pride enter the tournament as one of the hottest teams in the conference after winning their final eight matches and finishing undefeated in EIWA action at 7-0. However, the road to EIWA titles and NCAA berths will not be easy as the conference is one of the toughest in the nation.
 
Hofstra currently has four wrestlers ranked by either the NCAA Coaches' Panel, the NCAA RPI, or one of the many magazines or websites that cover collegiate wrestling. Dylan Ryder (125) is ranked 18th by Wrestlestat and 33rd by The Open Mat; Ricky Stamm (165) is ranked 30th by TrackWrestling; Sage Heller (174) is 29th in the Wrestlestat rankings, 31st in The Open Mat rankings, 31st in the NCAA RPI, and ranked 33rd by the NCAA Coaches' Panel; Zachary Knighton-Ward (285) is ranked 32nd by Wrestlestat, is 28th in the NCAA RPI, and 32nd in the NCAA Coaches' Panel rankings.
 
In addition to those four, Hofstra will also be represented at the EIWA Championships by Justin Hoyle (133), Vinny Vespa (141), Reece Heller (149), Holden Heller (157), Charles Small (184), and Trey Rogers (197).

Six of the Pride's 10 grapplers – Ryder, Vespa, Holden Heller, Stamm, Sage Heller, and Rogers – have EIWA Championships experience. Vespa placed fifth at 133 pounds in 2017 while Stamm was seventh at 174 last season.
 
The EIWA received 44 automatic bids to the NCAA Championships when the NCAA announced its qualifier allocations last week. Each qualifying tournament was awarded spots per weight class based on current year data including Division I winning percentage, RPI and a coaches ranking. Wrestlers who fail to qualify this weekend will be eligible for one of 47 at-large berths, which will be announced on Tuesday, March 10.
 
Preliminary tournament seeds will be set at Thursday's coaches meeting. Seeds will be finalized and brackets will be unveiled following Friday morning weigh-ins.
 
All-session and single session tickets for the 116th EIWA Championships are still available and can be purchased at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME during business hours.
 
The EIWA has partnered with FloWrestling to provide streaming video coverage of the entire tournament via its subscription-based FloPro service.
 
NCAA tournament qualifiers will move on to the 90th NCAA Championships, March 19-21 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The NCAA will announce the at-large qualifiers and complete field of 330 on Tuesday March 10, and will then unveil the seeds and brackets the following day at 6 p.m.