title: IPWA Light Heavyweight Championship
text: # IPWA Light Heavyweight Championship
  
  The IPWA Light Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling light heavyweight championship in Independent Professional Wrestling Alliance (IPWA). The inaugural champion was Mark "The Shark" Shrader, who defeated Quinn Nash (substituting for Earl the Pearl) in a tournament final on June 7, 1996 to become the first IPWA Light Heavyweight Champion.
  
  There were 7 officially recognized champions with Julio Sanchez winning the title a record 4-times. He was also its longest reigning champion with his second title reign lasting 273 days. Some of the top "indy cruiserweights" on the East Coast wrestled for the title during its near 6-year history with former champions including Steve Corino, Christian York, and Joey Matthews.
  
  ## Title history
  
  | # | Order in reign history |
  | - | - |
  | Reign | The reign number for the specific set of wrestlers listed |
  | Event | The event in which the title was won |
  | — | Used for vacated reigns so as not to count it as an official reign |
  | N/A | The information is not available or is unknown |
  | + | Indicates the current reign is changing daily |
  
  ### Names
  
  | Name | Years |
  | - | - |
  | IPWA Light Heavyweight Championship | 1996 — 2001 |
  
  ### Reigns
  
  | # | Wrestlers | Reign | Date | Days held | Location | Event | Notes |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | Mark Shrader | 1 | June 7, 1996 | 98 | Alexandria, Virginia | Live event | Shrader defeated Quinn Nash (substituting for Earl the Pearl in a tournament final to become the first IPWA Light Heavyweight Champion. |
  | — | Vacated | — | September 13, 1996 | — | N/A | N/A | The championship is vacated after Mark Shrader wins the MEWF Heavyweight Championship. |
  | 2 | Earl the Pearl | 1 | September 21, 1996 | 35 | Alexandria | Live event | Defeated Johnny Graham and Sheik Ali Amin in a three-way match to win the vacant title. |
  | 3 | Mark Shrader | 2 | May 1996 | N/A | Alexandria | Live event | |
  | 4 | Julio Sanchez | 1 | March 22, 1997 | 38 | Lenoir, North Carolina | Live event | |
  | — | Vacated | — | April 29, 1997 | — | N/A | N/A | |
  | 5 | Steve Corino | 1 | May 2, 1997 | 223 | Pikeville, North Carolina | Live event | Corino defeated Christian York in a tournament final to win both the IPWA and NWA 2000 Light Heavyweight Championships. |
  | 6 | Julio Sanchez | 2 | December 7, 1997 | 273 | Alexandria | Live event | |
  | 7 | Christian York | 1 | June 13, 1998 | 70 | Alexandria | Live event | |
  | 8 | Julio Sanchez | 3 | August 22, 1998 | 11 | Chincoteague, Virginia | Live event | |
  | 9 | Christian York | 2 | September 2, 1998 | 210 | Richmond, Virginia | Live event | |
  | 10 | Joey Matthews | 1 | January 9, 1999 | 14 | Chincoteague | Live event | |
  | 11 | Julio Sanchez | 4 | January 23, 1999 | N/A | Alexandria | Live event | Sanchez defeated Joey Matthews and Christian York in a three-way match. |
  | 12 | Joey Matthews | 2 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
  | 13 | Jacey North | 1 | March 25, 2000 | N/A | Quantico, Virginia | Live event | |
  | — | Deactivated | — | 2001 | — | N/A | N/A | The IPWA ceases promoting events and closes in the spring of 2001. |
  
  ## List of combined reigns
  
  | <1 | Indicates that the reign lasted less than one day. |
  | - | - |
  | Rank | Wrestler | # of reigns | Combined days |
  | 1 | Julio Sanchez | 4 | 344 |
  | 2 | Christian York | 2 | 280 |
  | 3 | Steve Corino | 1 | 223 |
  | 4 | Mark Shrader | 2 | 98+ |
  | 5 | Earl the Pearl | 1 | 35 |
  
  ## Footnotes
  
  * ↑ Each reign is ranked highest to lowest; reigns with the same number mean that they are tied for that certain rank.
  