Alconbury’s Daniel Scavola scrambles to pin Baumholder Myles Crespo during a 113-pound wrestling match on Dec. 6, 2025, at Lakenheath High School in Lakenheath, England. (Loretto Morris/Stars and Stripes)
RAF LAKENHEATH, England – Large schools can put as many as 28 wrestlers on the mat with the format that DODEA-Europe uses for its regular season meets.
Smaller schools such as Alconbury, with a high school enrollment of 83, can’t come close to that.
But that doesn’t mean that the Dragons can’t make a big impact.
Nine of the 10 Alconbury wrestlers who opened the season at a five-team meet at neighboring Lakenheath on Saturday placed in the top three in their weight divisions.
Leonardo Vega (106 pounds), Andrew Barbee (120) and Jacob Stuhler (144) each finished first.
“It says a lot about what we are trying to build over here at Alconbury,” Alconbury coach Edison Vega said.
The Dragons finished fourth in the boys competition with 122 points but weren’t that far behind three Division I schools: SHAPE (147.5), Kaiserslautern (143) and Lakenheath (136).
That doesn’t mean that everything went as well as it could for Alconbury.
Edison Vega, the coach’s son, went undefeated and won the European title last year at 113 pounds. But he suffered his first loss of the new season Saturday at 126 pounds at the hands of Kaiserslautern’s Joshua Kim – third last year at 132.
“It was a tough match, but I knew my training would pay off,” Kim said after an 18-2 technical fall.
Lakenheath’s Wesley Weinberg reached the finals at 175 pounds by pinning another Alconbury wrestler, Thomas Flynn.
“He was taller, so I got low to use my shorter height to my advantage,” Weinberg said.
SHAPE’s Liam Kennington grabs the torso of Lakenheath’s Parker Grimm during a 165-pound wrestling match on Dec. 6, 2025, at Lakenheath High School in Lakenheath, England. (Loretto Morris/Stars and Stripes)
SHAPE's Elia Guerrero pins Baumholder's Alyssa Meas during a 106-pound wrestling match on Dec. 6, 2025, at Lakenheath High School in Lakenheath, England. (Loretto Morris/Stars and Stripes)
Kaiserslautern’s Joshua Kim slams Alconbury’s Edison Vega during a 126-pound wrestling match on Dec. 6, 2025, at Lakenheath High School in Lakenheath, England. (Loretto Morris/Stars and Stripes)
Lakenheath’s Wesley Weinberg pins Alconbury’s Thomas Flynn during a 175-pound wrestling match on Dec. 6, 2025, at Lakenheath High School in Lakenheath, England. (Loretto Morris/Stars and Stripes)
Kaiserslautern’s Justin Cooper was second at 150 pounds to SHAPE’s Michael McGlothlin, but had four pins to reach the finals – including the fastest of the day in 8 seconds.
The girls competition featured the European debut of Baumholder’s Aaliyah Lott, a transfer from Texas. She finished first at 126 pounds.
“I’m very used to wrestling taller girls, and this opponent was shorter, so it was a new, but good experience,” Lott said defeating Lakenheath’s Kaleigh Nix.
Alconbury coach Vega summed up the feeling of many in attendance by saying that losses suffered Saturday would serve as motivation for the rest of the season.
That season continues this weekend when all of the teams wrestling in England on Saturday cross over the English Channel for meets in Kaiserslautern or Stuttgart. Vilseck also hosts a meet on the last day of competition before winter break.
