To my knowledge the first Eastern Regional tournament took place in 1973. Twenty-two teams participated with only the top three wrestlers being recognized per weight class & in some instances only the champion advancing to the NCAA tournament.
Most of the teams that participated no long have wrestling.
Buffalo, Northern Illinois, Virginia Tech & West Virginia the only teams that 47 years later still remain.
Of those we have lost?
Ball State, Cincinnati, Illinois State, Dayton, Indiana State, Duquesne, Eastern Kentucky, Marquette, George Washington, Georgia Tech, Marshall, Moorehead State (KY), Notre Dame, St Francis, Southern Illinois-Carbondale, Southwestern Louisiana, Virginia Commonwealth & Xavier have all since dropped.
Matter of fact the dropping of wrestling programs throughout the years caused the Eastern Regional to look quite different throughout the years. Teams came and teams went. Sometimes due to the discontinuation of wrestling & sometimes due to switching conferences.
Clarion, Lock Haven, Penn State, Shippensburg, & George Mason among teams we still have.
Slippery Rock, among those we hope to soon be reinstated.
Tampa, Fairleigh Dickinson, Middle Tennessee State, North Carolina A&T, UW-Milwaukee, Indiana of Pennsylvania, Richmond, Old Dominion, William & Mary, James Madison, Delaware & Eastern Carolina among more teams that we've lost. I'm pretty sure that Central Florida in their one and only season in NCAA Division I, they participated in the East Regional.
Towards the end of the last years of the East Regional it had dwindled down to a little more than a handful of teams.
After the 2008-2009 season Delaware State, which crowned Matt Cathell a champion at 149 lbs dropped their wrestling program, leaving the East Regional with only six remaining teams.
After the 2009-2010 season Duquesne dropped their wrestling program.
Then in 2011, Millersville announced a decision to drop to NCAA Division II status as Liberty who had just won their fifth team title in a row announced they were dropping wrestling as a varsity sport.
That was the end of the East Regional.
38 tournaments and that was the end of it.
Gardner Webb & Campbell found homes in the Southern Conference.
It was an historic day.
Robert Jillard
125 lbs champion
Robert Jillard of Liberty took the title at 125 lbs. A talented freshman not ready to give up his dreams of wrestling Division I, he'd spend the remainder of his career wrestling for Northern Illinois. As a sophomore he had a decent showing, including a third place finish at the MAC tournament but he was not selected as a wildcard. As a junior he finished fourth in the MAC, but again was not selected as a Wildcard. His senior season, he put together a more impressive season-resume & his fourth place finish at the MAC was awarded a wildcard bid to the NCAA tournament.
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| Thomas Mitchell Champion at 133 lbs |
Mitchell was a junior wrestling for the Flames of Liberty when he captured what would be the final Eastern Regional title won at 133 lbs. I believe he may have decided not to wrestle his final year of eligibility, but I'm not for certain on that.
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| Mike Greck Champion at 141 lbs |
It was a day of pay off and reward for the Millersville grappler. A career plagued by injuries & bad luck, perseverance & never giving up on himself finally paid off for the Marauder in his final Eastern Regional. He wrestled one of the best tournaments of his collegiate career & ended on a note that saw him the final E.R. champion & the final NCAA Division I qualifier that Millersville produced.
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| The Medved Brothers Champs at 149 & 157 lbs |
It was pretty cool when freshman brothers Ryan & Alex Medved won back to back titles at 149 & 157 lbs for the runnin' bulldogs. I mean to keep up with as many as I can when I watch wrestling but I regret to inform that I lost track of them after this season. If memory serves me correct I think one of them ended up having a severe injury the next season.
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| Chad Porter Champion at 165 lbs |
It was an extremely significant day in the life of Chad Porter. He won his fourth Eastern Regional title & as a result of it being the final tournament, he'll forever be cemented in the history of Liberty wrestling as the only four time Eastern Regional champion in history.
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| Royal Brettrager Champ at 174 lbs |
Brettrager a freshman at the time he won the Eastern Regional title decided to remain at Liberty & be one of their most successful stars on their club team. He'd go on to earn three NCWA All American honors for the Flames the next three seasons.
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| Jonathan Velazquez Champ at 184 lbs |
Velazquez remained competing for Gardner Webb as he finished in third place at the 2012 Southern Conference tournament.
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| Travis Porter Champ at 197 lbs |
I believe Porter was a sophomore at the time he won the Eastern Regional title for the runnin' bulldogs. I'm not for certain on that though & I"m not sure what became of him in his remaining two years of eligibility.
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| Parker Burns Champion at HWT |
Before Cary Kolat took over & made Campbell into a Southern Conference powerhouse the highlights of Camels wrestling were few and far between. One of their most successful wrestlers was Parker Burns who after finishing at the Eastern Regional runner-up in 2009, won titles his final two seasons of 2010 & 2011.
Liberty with four champions
Gardner Webb with four champions
Millersville with one champion
Campbell with one champion
And that was your final Eastern Regional.
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