RICHMOND, Va. (September 17, 2001) - The Colonial Athletic Association will have 12 teams competing for its wrestling championship in 2001-02 after a merger with the East Coast Wrestling Association.    The 12-team conference will consist of Drexel University, George Mason University, Hofstra University, James Madison University, Old Dominion University and Campbell University, along with former ECWA members Binghamton University, Boston College, Boston University, Rider University, Sacred Heart University and Wagner College.    "Merging with the ECWA adds some of the top wrestling programs in the East to the CAA and provides a stable membership, which protects the programs and our national qualifiers," CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager said. "The CAA will now be regarded as one of the elite wrestling conferences in the nation."    Twenty-seven wrestlers will represent the CAA at the 2002 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, held this winter at Pepsi Arena in Albany, N.Y., and co-sponsored by Rider.    The CAA has conducted a wrestling championship since 1992, with 2001 champion George Mason having won five of the past 10 titles. James Madison captured back-to-back CAA crowns in 1999 and 2000, while Old Dominion took home the 1994 championship.    The ECWA developed from the East Coast Conference in 1990-91. The ECC began operation in 1974, and grew into a 21-sport league before folding in 1990. Hofstra dominated the early years of ECC wrestling, winning the first six conference titles, and eight of the first nine. Rider won four conference titles in the 1980s, eight more in the 1990s, and another in 2000. Hofstra captured the 2001 crown. Boston College, Boston University and Wagner College joined the ECWA in 1995-96, while Binghamton and Sacred Heart joined in 1999.