The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford department of athletics announced that its wrestling program has joined the Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference beginning with the 2020-21 academic year.

“We’re very excited to be in the Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference. It’s a highly competitive league that will allow our wrestlers to improve and be better prepared for regional competition,” said Colin Johnston, head wrestling coach at Pitt-Bradford.

The Panther wrestling program, which began competition in 2018-19, has competed at the regional level and in individual tournaments without being in a conference for its first two seasons.

“It gives our wrestlers an opportunity to win a conference championship both individually and on the team level. They will also have the opportunity to be recognized conference-wide for their accomplishments on the mat and in the classroom,” Johnston added.

The Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference was established in 1991. The charter members include The College at Brockport, SUNY Cortland, Ithaca College, SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Oswego and Rochester Institute of Technology. In addition, Alfred State rejoined the conference in 2018. AMCC co-member Penn State-Behrend will also be joining the conference this season.

“The ECWC is looking forward to Penn State Behrend and the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford joining the conference for the coming year, bringing total membership to nine schools. Our championship is always a competitive event, and the addition of our new members will further prepare our athletes for post-season competition,” said commissioner Eric Summers.

The ECWC Championships will be held on Jan. 16, 2021 at Ithaca College in New York.