WIESBADEN, Germany – It’s said there is no playing field as even as a wrestling mat. That was certainly the case on Saturday, the second and final day of the 2015 DODDS-Europe wrestling championships.

Nine schools were represented among Saturday’s 28 weight-class finalists. Four schools placed three or more wrestlers in one of the14 title bouts, and five programs came away with individual championships.

Here’s a rundown of the newly crowned European champions:

106 pounds – Lakenheath sophomore Brandon Lovett became the day’s first European champion with a tense 4-2 decision over Vilseck’s Blaise Markley.

Lovett finished fifth as a freshman last season, and came into this winter prepared to contend. He carried that confidence all the way through Saturday’s finale.

“I was less nervous, more experienced,” Lovett said. “I was just ready.”

That feeling held even as Markley stayed in striking distance throughout the full-length match.

“I lost control a little bit,” Lovett said. “But I was still in the zone.”

113 – All the evidence suggested a loss for Vilseck’s Aydan Huezo.

Even Huezo didn’t dispute that he was an underdog. After following the exploits of undefeated AFNORTH senior Anthony Doerfer all winter, the Falcon junior knew what he was up against. A preliminary-round loss to Doerfer earlier Saturday reinforced it. But that match, a 9-7 decision that was Doerfer’s first non-pinfall win of the season, also proved that Huezo belonged at the highest level despite his five regular-season losses.

“It definitely boosted me up a bit,” Huezo said.

In fact, it carried all the way to an upset 9-8 decision for the championship. Huezo, a transfer from Seoul American, ramped up his offense in the rematch to turn the tables on the favored Doerfer.

Afterwards, he leapt into the pack of Falcon teammates cheering him on from just off the mat.

“Best feeling ever,” Huezo said.

120 – Christopher Matzke of Patch won his second consecutive European title by pinning his opponent for the second time of the day. His title-clinching pin of Ramstein’s Stan Cruz came in 94 seconds.

Matzke won six preliminary matches in the unconventional seven-man round-robin field, including a Saturday morning pin of Cruz, to reach the final. Once there, he added the 120-pound crown to the 113-pound title he won last winter.

The win kicked off a string of titles for the reigning champions.

126 – Matthew Bolduc became Patch’s second straight repeat champion with a 59-second pinfall defeat of Kaiserslautern’s Evan Heryford.

Bolduc successfully made the leap from 106 pounds, the class he won at last year’s European tournament, to a division three levels higher.

132 – Another Patch title was assured in this title match, the only teammate-versus-teammate bout of the day. Johnathan Brabazon took the title over Isaiah Phillips with a pin just under two minutes into the match.

138 – The stalwart Panthers threatened to hijack the otherwise balanced tournament as Patch junior Robert Call gave the school its fourth championship in a row. Call, last year’s 132-pound champion, took a 12-2 major decision over Lakenheath’s Zackary Adamson for his second title in as many seasons.

145 – Due to sheer numbers and the resulting depth, the middle-weight divisions are considered among the most competitive in DODDS-Europe. Saturday’s matches confirmed that notion.

After a winter of evenly-matched action in the 145-pound ranks, Lakenheath’s Emilio Medina and Kaiserslautern’s Lawrence Abbott extended the season by an extra period in Saturday’s title bout. The two ended regulation deadlocked; a takedown at 27 seconds in the one-minute extra period clinched the win for Medina.

152 – A nearly identical match followed the Medina-Abbott showdown. This time Vicenza’s Robert Maldonado and Wiesbaden’s Matthew Hall fought to a regulation standstill; Hall’s takedown at the 37-second mark gave the decision to the hometown wrestler.

160 – Lakenheath continued its banner Saturday at the expense of a new rival hoping for its own breakthrough.

Matthew Okoniewski recorded a 5-0 decision over Vicenza’s Marshall Perfetti for the Lancers’ third European title of the day. Lakenheath didn’t have any wrestlers compete in the European finals last season.

Okoniewski was voted the tournament’s outstanding wrestler by DODDS-Europe coaches.

Vicenza, competing at the Division I team level for the first time after last fall’s DODDS-Europe realignment, took its second straight title-match loss.

170 – Bradly Lemon gave Kaiserslautern a taste of European gold with his second consecutive title, recording a 57-second pin over Vicenza’s Seth Shields. Lemon won at 182 pounds in 2014.

Vicenza’s otherwise impressive tournament, meanwhile, ended in frustration as all three of its title-match contenders settled for runner-up status.

182 – The Raider party continued as Aaron Gauff gritted out a grueling pinfall victory over Ramstein’s Dillon Thompson. The match nearly went the distance before Gauff secured the pin at five minutes and 53 seconds.

Gauff was among the most dominant wrestlers in any class at the tournament. He earned pins in all five of his matches over the two days, with the first four all coming in the first two minutes before Thompson extended him in the title bout.

195 – Few people have a perspective on the extremes of DODDS-Europe athletics like that of Patch junior Eli Spencer.

In August, Spencer transferred to Patch from Incirlik, one of the organization’s smallest schools. And on Saturday, he added to his new school’s abundant trophy case with a sudden 46-second pin of Alconbury’s Chris Dufresne. Spencer’s win was the fifth and final Panther title of the day.

Spencer finished second to Lemon at 182 pounds last year. The move to Patch gave him the boost he needed.

“I think it improved me immensely,” Spencer said. “Patch is the most amazing wrestling program in all of DODDS.”

The outcome dashed the hopes of Alconbury, another of DODDS-Europe’s smallest programs. Chris’s brother Nick Dufresne lost in the 182-pound semifinal round. Still, the brothers’ efforts led the Dragons to the Division III team championship.

220 – The homestanding Warriors fielded a smaller group of European qualifiers compared to last year’s Division I runner-up squad. But the two they placed in Saturday’s final round did their part.

Wiesbaden senior Hunter Lunasin won his second straight championship at 220 pounds with a forceful one-minute, 29-second pin of Lakenheath’s Colten Menges, who made the leap from last year’s third-place finish to the final match. Lunasin joined 152-pound champion Hill in a 2-0 title-bout performance for the host school.

285 – Casey Fairchild of Lakenheath and Brian Mogavero of Patch were on a collision course all tournament, if not all season. Turns out they collided twice Saturday.

Fairchild and Mogavero both went 4-0 in Friday’s early rounds before meeting Saturday morning to wrap up pool wrestling. Fairchild won that match 3-1.

Then he won the big one - in all senses of that word. The Lancer heavyweight muscled his way to a hard-won five-minute, 21-second pin.

Fairchild’s win capped a strong day for Lakenheath, which earned four weight-class trophies. Lakenheath finished second to Patch in the team race, with 217 points to the Panthers’ 252.

“The kids have worked real hard this year. They put in the time,” said Lancer coach Darryl Brock, who will now take this season’s memories into retirement. “I couldn’t be happier for them.”

broome.gregory@stripes.com

Twitter: @broomestripes

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