The 2015 DODDS-Europe wrestling championship meet is set for Friday and Saturday at Wiesbaden. Here’s a look at the top contenders for each of the 14 individual titles in play.

106 pounds: DODDS-Europe’s smallest wrestlers might put up one of its biggest battles. The bracket has the ideal mix of competitors: no clear favorite, but plenty of worthy contenders.

The first-place finishers from last weekend’s three sectional meets - Jeremiah Gerber of Wiesbaden, Brandon Lovett of Lakenheath and Blaise Markley of Vilseck - are the obvious favorites.

But the field doesn’t stop with those three. David Kingery of Ramstein owns a win over Gerber, and Naples’ Alec Williams has a chance to disrupt the bracket.

113: The size of one’s school or team no longer matters when one wrestler squares off with another on the mat. And in those terms, Anthony Doerfer of AFNORTH has been among DODDS-Europe’s largest presences.

Doerfer, one of two Lion wrestlers in the European tournament, has been unstoppable all winter. That continued at last weekend’s sectional meet at Brussels, where he scored four pinfall victories in as many matches.

Patch’s Aujahn Dixon, Ramstein’s Kaleb Hoopes, Vilseck’s Joshua Clamage and Ayden Huezo and SHAPE’s Carlos Ulep are among the challengers to Doerfer’s potential coronation.

120: The field’s first reigning European champion makes an appearance in this tight seven-wrestler class. Patch standout Christopher Matzke won last year at 113 pounds, and ranks as a strong bet to repeat the feat at 120.

Fellow sectional champions Stan Cruz of Ramstein and Donavan Glasgow of Vilseck represent Matzke’s primary opposition, while Baumholder’s Michael Holliday and Brussels’ Christian Sculley bring small-school upset potential.

126: Patch, the defending Division I team champion and strong contender to repeat as such this weekend, fields another incumbent champion in this class. Matthew Bolduc won an all-Panther battle for the 106-pound crown last February, and is in line to win again after bulking up by 20 pounds in the interim.

Similarly deep rosters from other Division I schools offer their own contenders here, including Ramstein’s Ryan Ford, Vilseck’s Mikhael Ragay and Kaiserslautern’s Evan Heryford.

132: Like the 113-pound ranks above, this bracket might come down to a small-school upstart taking on an entry from juggernaut Patch. Bitburg’s Brandon Beaumont, a 2014 semifinalist at 126 pounds, is one of three Barons in action this weekend, while Johnathon Brabazon gets the call for the championship-minded Panthers.

Naples’ Jordan Hoffman, Hohenfels’ Ian Colbert and Lakenheath’s Preston Booth will look to elbow their way into that championship picture.

138: The parade of Panther champions continues as reigning 132-pound European champion Robert Call gives Patch another shot at a repeat championship.

Nine wrestlers stand between Call and that goal, including 2014 semifinalist Zack Adamson of Lakenheath, returning Vilseck standout Eduardo Castaneda and new Naples contender A.J. Fisher.

145: Lakenheath’s Emilio Medina saw his path to European gold blocked last winter by Patch phenom and Stars and Stripes wrestling Athlete of the Year Jaden Fields. Now Medina, who finished a strong third last season after falling to Fields in the semifinals, takes on the role of favorite.

But while Fields is gone, plenty of competition remains in this rigorous 12-man bracket. Kaiserslautern’s Lawrence Abbott, Wiesbaden’s Montgomery Smith, Vilseck’s Austin Weatherspoon and Brussels’ Canyon LaClair rank among the more dangerous contenders.

152: An example of an organization-wide trend, Vicenza fielded a smaller team than usual this season. But that doesn’t mean the eight Cougars who qualified for this weekend’s championship meet can be overlooked.

Robert Maldonado ranks among the squad’s stronger bets to bring a title back to Italy. He’ll vie with Lakenheath’s Jonathan Lopez, Ramstein’s Andres Rios, Wiesbaden’s Matt Hall, Hohenfels’ Marcus Dudley and familiar local rival Manny Gamboa of Aviano in this wide-open 10-wrestler field.

160: Another Vicenza contender, senior Marshall Perfetti, gives Vicenza a second legitimate title shot one class up from Maldonado. Fellow sectional winners Matt Okoniewski of Lakenheath and Alfred Freed of Wiesbaden rank as Perfetti’s biggest obstacles, though nine other grapplers in this deep 12-wrestler bracket will register their objections.

170: In a departure from the usual pattern, Kaiserslautern’s Bradly Lemon dropped down a weight class this winter after winning the European title at 182 a year ago. But while Lemon is slimmer, his championships hopes are as robust as ever.

As with many mid-level weight classes, however, the competition here is thick. Vilseck’s Elijah Brown, Lakenheath’s Trevor Roderick-Wood, Wiesbaden’s Ric Heiges and Bitburg’s John Blake put Lemon’s repeat bid in peril.

182: Kaiserslautern will send 15 wrestlers to Wiesbaden, equal with Patch and behind only Ramstein’s 17-deep contingent, in hopes of contending for the Division I team championship.

Aaron Gauff is a solid bet to add to the Raider point total in this eight-man class. He’ll be in the championship mix along with Alconbury’s Nick Dufresne, Patch’s Timothy Makee, Ramstein’s Dillon Thompson and Emil Jurgens, one of two European qualifiers from American Overseas School of Rome.

195: The Division III Alconbury Dragons are among the smallest schools represented at the tournament, but they have an outsized presence in the championship scene thanks to the brothers Dufresne. Like his brother Nick at 182 pounds, Chris Dufresne capped a dominant regular season with a 195-pound sectional victory last weekend and heads to Wiesbaden as a weight-class favorite.

Naples fields one of the best of its 10 qualified wrestlers in this class in Nathan Cairns, while Eli Spencer of Patch and Mason Dean of Ramstein will seek to earn some valuable points for their own contending Division I teams.

220: Homestanding Wiesbaden will field a small but solid group of eight wrestlers this weekend. The Warriors are led by senior Hunter Lunasin, who last year avenged a preliminary-round pinfall loss to Patch’s William Miller by pinning Miller in a stirring championship rematch later that same day.

More heroics will be needed this weekend, as the 220-pound bracket projects as one of the meet’s most competitive despite just eight overall entries. Hohenfels’ Connor Gibson, Lakenheath’s Colten Menges, Naples’ Caleb Bunte and Ramstein’s Clayton Artese form the bulk of the opposition.

285: The heavyweight class is ironically DODDS-Europe’s slightest in terms of raw numbers, as only eight grapplers competed across the three sectionals. The sectional winners – Brian Mogavero of Patch, Casey Fairchild of Lakenheath and Joseph Rivera of Aviano – fill out the six-man European bracket along with wild-card selections Landon Weddle of Kaiserslautern, Erik Gerena of Ramstein and Wiesbaden's David Hemphill.

broome.gregory@stripes.com

Twitter: @broomestripes

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