Members of the Ansbach cheer squad perform during the 2016 DODEA-Europe cheerleading competition on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016 in Wiesbaden, Germany. Ansbach finished first in Division III. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
Members of the Ansbach cheer squad perform during the 2016 DODEA-Europe cheerleading competition on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016 in Wiesbaden, Germany. Ansbach finished first in Division III. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
Members of the Rota cheer squad perform during the 2016 DODEA-Europe cheerleading competition on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016 in Wiesbaden, Germany. Rota took first place in Division II. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
Members of the Bitburg cheer squad perform during the 2016 DODEA-Europe cheerleading competition on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016 in Wiesbaden, Germany. Bitburg's Sami Wade and Kiera Mirich Holder made the Division II All-Tournament team. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
Members of the Hohenfels cheer squad take to the stage during the 2016 DODEA-Europe cheerleading competition on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016 in Wiesbaden, Germany. Mason Everett Jannise and Mason Ott made the All-Tournament team for the Tigers. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
Members of the Aviano cheer squad perform during the 2016 DODEA-Europe cheerleading competition on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016 in Wiesbaden, Germany. Aviano finished third in Division II. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
Members of the Kaiserslautern cheer squad perform during the 2016 DODEA-Europe cheerleading competition on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016 in Wiesbaden, Germany. Nineteen schools in three divisions competed for the top squad honors. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
Members of the Naples cheer squad perform during the 2016 DODEA-Europe cheerleading competition on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016 in Wiesbaden, Germany. Naples won the Spirit Award for Division I as well as finishing second overall in the division behind Wiesbaden. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
Members of the Ramstein cheer squad perform during the 2016 DODEA-Europe cheerleading competition on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016 in Wiesbaden, Germany. The Royals finished in third place in Division I. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
Members of the Vicenza cheer squad perform during the 2016 DODEA-Europe cheerleading competition on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016 in Wiesbaden, Germany. Vicenza's Kaylee Sink was named to the All-Tournament squad for Division I. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
Members of the SHAPE cheer squad perform during the 2016 DODEA-Europe cheerleading competition on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016 in Wiesbaden, Germany. Hosts Wiesbaden took top honors in Division I. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
Members of the Wiesbaden cheer squad perform during the 2016 DODEA-Europe cheerleading competition on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016 in Wiesbaden, Germany. Hosts Wiesbaden took first place in Division I and received massive support from the crowd. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
Members of the cheer squad celebrate following their routine during the 2016 DODEA-Europe cheerleading competition on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016 in Wiesbaden, Germany. Wiesbaden's near-perfect performance resulted in them taking first place in Division I. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
Members of the Stuttgart cheer squad perform during the 2016 DODEA-Europe cheerleading competition on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016 in Wiesbaden, Germany. Amanda Fuglaar was named to the All-Tournament team for the Panthers. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
WIESBADEN, Germany — The crowd noise was deafening at times at the Clay Kaserne Fitness Center on Saturday as 19 cheer squads faced off at DODEA-Europe’s 21st Annual Cheer Tournament of Champions.
Ansbach, which moved to the small-school level this year, took the Division III title, with fellow German squad Baumholder coming runner-up. In Division II, it was Spanish school Rota who reigned supreme over runners-up the American Overseas School of Rome. Hosts Wiesbaden nearly brought the house down with a near-perfect routine to take the Division I crown over Naples.
All the routines were made up of two parts. First, squads would do the ‘spirit’ phase, where - without music - they did a typical cheer one might hear on the sidelines at a game. These usually included signs, and the crowd chanted along. For the second part, squads were free to use music and dance, tumble, and build human pyramids.
Spirit Awards, given to the squads that showed the best sportsmanship and energy during the tournament, were given to Baumholder in Division III, Rota in Division II and Naples in Division I.
All-Tournament:Division I Tylar Dee, Ella Bower, Clarke Milley (Ramstein); Clarissa Paniagua, Eric Arnold (Wiesbaden); Emily King, Kaitlyn Katz, Isabella Wolstenholme (Naples); Kaylee Sink (Vicenza); Jada Branch, Sarah Bridges (Kaiserslautern); Amanda Fuglaar (Stuttgart)
