The DODEA European wrestling scene converges on Wiesbaden once again Friday and Saturday for the European championships with individual and team glory on the line.

Ramstein, with the largest contingent of 25 athletes, looks to defend its Division I title. The Royals will be hard-pressed to do so against powerhouse Stuttgart, which will field 24 wrestlers. Both squads have all weight classes represented.

The Royals and Panthers squared off three times in meets during the regular season, with Ramstein coming out on top twice. The latest, on Jan. 27, ended in a 2.5-point victory for the Royals.

In Division II, Naples, which held its own during a Jan. 20 meet against Stuttgart, is the favorite to repeat as champion and has the firepower to do so with 18 European qualifiers.

In Division III, AFNORTH faces threats to his repeat bid in Alconbury, which has just three wrestlers in the tournament, and Spangdahlem.

Here’s a look at each weight class:

106 pounds

This weight class should have featured multiple unbeaten wrestlers this weekend, but an illness led to Kaiserslautern’s Jaden Calixto having one loss.

Still, the junior, who placed third at last year’s European meet, comes in as one of the favorites with a 16-1 record alongside Ramstein’s Frank Lozano. A senior transfer, Lozano has yet to taste defeat after returning to the sport after a four-year hiatus.

Naples’ Deshaun Bowie, a European qualifier last winter, won the South sectional and could make some noise. He and Lozano will square off in pool play.

Stuttgart sophomore Karmyn Lopez, fourth as a freshman, is back with a 15-5 record and holds a win over Bowie.

113

Alconbury freshman Edison Vega dominated almost everybody he faced this season, going 18-0 and amassing 16 pins.

Of those victories, two came against Ramstein’s Cole Santos, who, after winning the 106 title, has moved up a weight class and qualified as the second seed out of the West. Vega also has picked up wins over qualifiers Liberty Snyder of Ramstein (1-0), Sage Kleisner of Wiesbaden (2-0) and Aleksander Osinski of SHAPE (4-0).

Still, Vega hasn’t seen Vilseck’s Johnathan Wissemann or Naples’ Julian Parker. Wissemann, a freshman, is 14-2 and coming off a sectional title, and he and Vega are in the same pool. Parker, meanwhile, won the South sectional.

Stuttgart’s Dominick Welsh and Vicenza’s Kaito Goodfellow, 12-5 in the regular season, round out the top six seeds.

120

This weight class looks wide open.

Stuttgart freshman Graham Falquet burst onto the scene, going 18-1. That includes a 6-4 sectional final win over Vilseck’s Jude Cruz, who’s 15-2.

AFNORTH’s Richele Reyes is back after taking sixth place. The junior Lion is 10-2 this season, including wins over fellow qualifiers Genesis Esparza of Ramstein and Micah Rothas of Lakenheath, the latter of whom also pinned Reyes in 5 minutes, 16 seconds on Jan. 20. Reyes blitzed through her sectional with pins in all four matches, none of which lasted longer than 1:28.

Naples’ Joaquin Villescas ran away with the competition in the South. He did lose to Cruz on Jan. 13 when the Falcons traveled to Vicenza.

Vicenza’s Mitchell Horrigan, the second seed out of the south, finished the regular season with an 11-3 mark.

126

Sparks also could fly in this bracket with a trio of heavy hitters.

Vicenza’s Diego Cerda might not have wrestled a ton in the regular season, going 8-0, but the senior has proven his mettle. Cerda took care of business during meets against Stuttgart and Vilseck, and he came out on top during Feb. 4’s South sectional tournament.

Kaiserslautern’s Joshua Kim, meanwhile, transferred to Europe from North Carolina, where he wrestled varsity as a freshman. The sophomore is 18-1 during the season, with his lone loss coming in the opening meet after a disqualification while he was up 13 points.

Kim has defeated Spangdahlem’s Troy Truscott and Ramstein’s Kilun Engelbrecht in his pool, while also recording victories over Ramstein’s Camren Carlson, a 2023 Euro participant at 132 and West sectional winner; Vilseck’s Christopher Wissemann, Lakenheath wildcard Logan Conrad; and Raider teammate Maxwell Worley.

Carlson, meanwhile, enters the weekend with a 14-4 record. He defeated SHAPE’s Julyan Serrano-Garcia (12-5) in the West sectional final.

132

The top two didn’t wrestle at 132 last year but have transitioned to the higher weight well.

Stuttgart’s Aidan Morgan dropped the 2023 final at 126 by one point. This year, the senior is undefeated, mowing through the competition.

One of his toughest matches came against Wiesbaden’s Munro Davis. The 2023 champion at 120 is 14-1 this season. His lone loss was a 7-1 decision at the hands of Morgan on Jan. 13.

Aviano’s Antonio Brown boasts of an 11-4 mark and a South sectional win, but his lone match from north of the Alps, against Stuttgart’s Payton Kolesnikov, ended in a loss. Kolesnikov took second in the Central sectional.

Alconbury sophomore Jacob Stuhler posted 15 wins via pin en route to a 16-4 season. He has a win over Ramstein wild card Jackson Eves, but he also is 0-1 against AFNORTH’s Gabe Hatfield and 0-2 against Davis.

138

Ramstein’s Jayden Andrews finished third at 132 last year. One year and one weight class up, Andrews will be the favorite. He has an 18-0 mark and produced three pins during the sectional tournament.

Looking to spoil it for Andrews are Naples’ A.J. Lopez and Vilseck’s King Evans. Evans hovered around .500 during the regular season before making a run through the sectional tournament. The duo are in the opposite pool from Andrews.

SHAPE senior captain Kayson Boos sits in the same pool as Lopez and Evans. The fourth-place finisher in 2023 is 14-4 this season, including a 6-3 mark against fellow European qualifiers. He took second at last week’s West sectional behind Andrews.

Wiesbaden’s Elam Dunton made a huge jump from 120, where he took fifth last year. He has a 13-3 record.

Don’t sleep on AFNORTH’s Deacon Smith. The Lion may enter the tournament as a wild card after a fifth-place finish at sectionals, but he was the runner-up in the weight class at Euros last year and is 4-3 against fellow qualifiers.

144

The rest of the field will be hard-pressed to stop Zachary Call from defending his European championship.

The senior Panther cruised through the regular season at 16-0. His sectional route included two pins and a 17-8 major decision over Vilseck’s Jayden Freeman in the final.

Awaiting Call in the other pool is Wiesbaden’s Jacob Lane, whom the Panther defeated in last year’s final. Lane has a 15-2 record and collected pins of 53 and 55 seconds and a technical fall in last week’s sectional final against AFNORTH’s James Bennett, who has gone 14-3.

Also in the other pool is Vicenza’s Paul Sturtevant. The Cougar junior is 13-4 and won the South sectional.

150

Naples senior Sam Pounds looks to repeat as champion, going through the season undefeated.

Tasked with stopping the Wildcat in the same pool is Stuttgart junior Andrew Morrow and SHAPE junior Donovan Traylor. Morrow holds a 12-4 record and won the Central sectional, while Traylor is 16-3 overall and 8-1 against European qualifiers.

In the other pool, Ramstein transfer Kydan Echard spent most of the season grappling at 144 but moved up to 150 for the postseason. It proved to be a prudent move, as he pinned his way to a sectional title, including at 1:12 in the final against Traylor.

Aviano’s Jevan Smith, whose four losses have come at the hands of Pounds, and Stuttgart sophomore Christian Groves also hope to be in the mix.

157

Ramstein’s Issac Martinez is a relative unknown in the weight class, spending most of the season grappling at 150. He joined 157 for the postseason and won the West sectional with a 5-4 decision over Alconbury’s Ayden Hinsey for the freshman’s lone blemish on the year (19-1).

Aviano’s Aaron Smith, Stuttgart’s Alex Samler and Naples Kyson Fromm have seen each other.

Fromm handed Samler his lone loss of the campaign Jan. 20, while the Wildcat went 2-0 against Smith during the regular season with a pair of pins. Yet Smith flipped the script in the South sectional with a pin of Fromm. Samler, meanwhile, produced a pin of Smith on Jan. 20.

165

Lucius Bowman has enjoyed life at 165 after winning the 157-pound crown last year. The senior Lancer is 14-0 with an 8-0 mark against his fellow qualifiers, including a 2-0 mark against West sectional runner-up Lucas Hollenbeck of Ramstein.

Stuttgart’s Jace Holmes will see Bowman in pool action. The senior Panther is 12-2 and won the Central sectional. Also, Vicenza’s Elyas Tajeddine is making his first European appearance after injuries ended his freshman and sophomore campaigns. The junior is 14-4.

In the other pool, Naples’ Derrick Cavillery, Hollenbeck and Hohenfels’ Julian Yazzie (11-4) will be in the running to make the final four.

175

This bracket could prove to be one of the most competitive.

SHAPE’s Luigi Patalano, Kaiserslautern’s Freeman Allen and Rota’s Jonathan King are coming off sectional wins and boast the top records. Patalano, the runner-up at 165 in 2023, is 15-2 overall and 10-1 against fellow European competitors. In the same pool, King has been a bright spot for Rota as a freshman, but in competition against Northern European squads, he has struggled.

Allen, meanwhile, wrestled up a class last season and managed to finish fifth. In his optimal class, the junior is 11-3. He is 1-1 against Nathan Rutlege, who placed second in the West sectional, with a 10-4 victory and a 5-4 loss, and he lost to Patalano and Lakenheath’s Elijah Hutton, who is 1-2 against the SHAPE senior this year.

Aviano’s Tyler Mellon is 2-2 against King and defeated Stuttgart Euro qualifier Sharif Elmas when the two squared off Jan. 20.

190

Everything seems set for Stuttgart’s Jack Gruver and Vilseck’s Garrett Hyten to meet in the final.

But numerous grapplers will look for the upset.

Ramstein’s Matthew Rutlege went 14-2 on the year and won the West section. The Royal’s lone losses are to Gruver.

Also in the running in Hyten’s pool are Naples’ Lukas Krumnow, who won the South sectional, and Lakenheath’s Jaden DuBois, who is 13-2 but only has faced off with SHAPE’s Ethan Simmons, Ramstein’s Chris Farrington and Rutlege among European qualifiers. Along with Rutlege, Aviano’s Cruz Cottingham (16-4), who lost to both Gruver and Hyten already this season, will try to crash the party in Gruver’s pool.

215

SHAPE senior co-captain Will Bush has run roughshod through his competition, going 15-0 overall and 7-0 against European qualifiers. It’s a carryover from the 2022-2023 campaign in which he placed fourth at 190.

Joining him in the race at 215 is Vicenza’s Arthur Shore. The senior is in his second year of wrestling and was 14-4 during the regular season. Shore bested his nemesis during much of the season, Naples’ Treyvon Hoffstatter, in the sectional final.

Stuttgart’s Connor Hutchinson at 15-5 and Ramstein’s Roman Eves at 9-1 are in the same pool as Shore, while Ramstein’s Cameron Ritter at 12-5 joins Bush and Hoffstatter in the other pool.

285

Spangdahlem’s Eli Hulet has had a perfect run through the season at 11-0, seeing almost every top seed heading into the European championships.

The senior already has defeated Wiesbaden’s John Ruland, who won the heavyweight European title in 2023; AFNORTH’s Nathan Frederickson; Stuttgart’s Cyrus Montandon; and Ramstein’s Alex Belote. He didn’t face Rota’s Donovan Lenhard, but his brother, Hudson, who also advanced to Wiesbaden, did and beat the Admiral grappler earlier this season.

Naples’ Declan Newsome, along with others in the South sectional, are mysteries to him.

Hulet mentioned Frederickson being his biggest threat to winning the European title, having squared off in a close match during the season. The Lion, 11-1 on the year, is in the same pool.

Ruland, meanwhile, sits in the same pool as Newsome and has a 16-5 record as he looks to repeat on home turf.