Coming Thursday: basketball previews.

The 2024-2025 DODEA European boys wrestling campaign is going to feel like a blast from the past.

The boys will be competing against only each other, as the girls will have their own division.

Ansbach returns to the mats for the first time in nearly a decade and a half, while Black Forest Academy restarts its program.

Then, in Stuttgart, former coach Norm Matzke is coming out of retirement to take over the Panthers once more. His previous reign stretched back to when the Panthers were attached to the former school on Patch Barracks.

In the end, everybody will be chasing two-time defending champion Ramstein, which may experience a rebuilding year.

And by season’s end, the DODEA-Europe wrestling scene will converge on Feb. 6-8 at the Wiesbaden Sports and Fitness Center in Wiesbaden, Germany.

Here’s a team-by-team look based off responses by coaches around Europe:

Alconbury

The Dragons made great strides in Edison Vega’s first season at the helm.

They went from last to second at the 2024 European championships, thanks in large part to Edison Vega-Figueroa, the coach’s son, taking second place at 113 pounds and Jacob Stuhler coming in third at 132.

For 2024-2025, the Dragons hope to take the next step and claim a European team title.

Vega-Figueroa returns for his sophomore season in the same weight class after going 23-2 last winter. Stuhler, meanwhile, moves to 138 after posting a 22-5 record at 132.

Senior Lincoln Flake, who went 10-9 at 144 and 150, will compete at 165, while fellow senior Steven Lacy stays at 175 when he posted a 6-2 mark. Sophomore Andrew Barbee returns from injury to grapple at 120.

Junior Kieran Quigley transferred from Camp Humphreys, South Korea, to represent Alconbury at 144. First-year wrestlers Luis Payares (senior, 132), Thomas Flynn (sophomore, 157) and Daniel Scavola (sophomore, 106) round out the roster.

AFNORTH

The Lions retained their Division III European crown by 22 points over Alconbury last season, and they will be looking for the three-peat this campaign.

AFNORTH will turn to European qualifier James Bennett, who placed fifth at 144. Other returners include Holden Burkhardt, Trent Autin, Ezekiel Reyes, Logan Conrad, Esteban Milan and Kristoffer Normand.

To go with the veterans, the Lions have a strong group of freshmen leading the newcomers. Among the new names are Elisha Diaz, Andre Vendla, Sladen Hager, Sawyer Findley, T.J. Carisio, Henry Doggette, Nolan Ervine, Miles Iliff, Talon Keeton, Eli Martin, Lucas Reyes, Lukas Masiulionis and Konstantin Van Kessel.

Ankara

The school enters its second season back in the DODEA setup.

The Trojans bring back all but one from last year’s squad and boast of athletes from the United States, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Georgia and Italy.

Seniors Caleb Figueroa and Seifulla Rakhmedulla will lead the way at 120 and 150 pounds, respectively. Figuroa and Rakhmedulla both advanced to the European championships last winter, with Figuroa going 7-10 at 120 and Rakhmedulla going 8-10 at 144.

Sophomore Giorgi Imerlishvili also made it to Wiesbaden last season at 175. This year, the Georgian will compete at 157.

Sophomores Daniele Montieri and Mahammad Naghizade will grapple at 150 and 215, respectively, with Montieri coming back after suffering a season-ending injury.

New to this year’s squad are senior Sayed Kadhem (138), junior Alfarid Ongalbek (144) and freshmen Daviti Japaridze (106), Simon Peters (113), Christian Radulescu (132), Nurbek Rakhmedulla (132) and Matthew “Cole” Windham (150).

Ansbach

The Cougar wrestling program returns for the first time since 2010, according to coach Justin Ernest.

The Ansbach roster will feature mostly first-year wrestlers, but that doesn’t stop Ernest from having high hopes.

Competing this season are seniors James Colon, Aiden Kendall and Derek Richard; juniors Nathan Areguine and Kwasi Jones; sophomore Ethan Albritton; and freshmen Max Bacilio, Lucas Hendrixson, Shawn Romero and Elijah Shupelz.

Baumholder

Coach Mark Dube said the sky is the limit for the small Buccaneer squad.

Jonathan Zdunczyk leads the team after qualifying for the European meet at 215 pounds. Others returning include Jason Danso, Ricky Berrio and Landon Moody.

The lone newcomer is Josiah Bianes-Delrosario.

Black Forest Academy

The Falcons are a blank slate. Literally.

BFA is a new squad with nobody who has wrestled before. But coach Josh McKeown said the team has some natural talent and is expecting a season of learning.

Competing this year are seniors Henry Richard (175) and Austin Yau (215); juniors Eli Cooke (144) and Cody Salley (190); sophomores Nate Narvesen (138) and Zach Lachonce (157); and freshmen Ethan Wiggins (144), Mark Ndifuna (165) and Rogan Ivey (215).

Hohenfels

The Tigers have just a handful of second-year wrestlers coming back and will be banking on a bunch of newcomers to lift them into contention for a Division III crown.

The returners are Sawyer Baxter, Emmitt Stewart and Ethan Koekenberg.

New to the team are Jason Cooley, Julian Garcia, Elijah Granahan, Karson Matthey, Logan Mitchell, Markavious Scott, Kylejames Sigrah, Gavin Takacs and Ben Tocco.

Nehemiah Baleto transferred in from Kansas.

Lakenheath

The Lancers graduated eight wrestlers and another few transferred away from last year’s squad, meaning it could be a rebuilding season.

Lakenheath still brings back plenty of firepower on the mats with four European qualifiers. Senior Jaden Dubois leads that contingent, going 13-2 last year at 190.

Junior Matthew Mihalyi went 14-9 at 157 en route to a European berth, while fellow junior Wesson Roney attended the championship meet with an 8-12 mark at 165. The final returning Euro participant is sophomore Johnathan Mihalyi.

Also returning for the Lancers are junior Christian Dey at 132 and sophomore Edouard Conrad.

Junior Wesley Weiberg transferred in from Ramstein and will compete at 165. Others joining the roster are senior Kevin “Ayden” Kunz (144); juniors Elliot Adam (138) and Adrian Hill (215); sophomores Parker Grimm (150), Ethan Kunz (126) and Diego Vargas (132); and freshmen Andrew Luce (175) and Jeremiah Rico (215).

Ramstein

After two years sitting atop the DODEA European wrestling scene, the Royals could fall to Earth in what could be a rebuilding year.

Ramstein still has numerous athletes who are expected to make deep runs come the postseason.

Senior captains Isaac Martinez and Kydan Echard return after winning European titles last campaign. Martinez earned his crown by default at 157 pounds, one year after placing third. Echard, meanwhile, won with a 6-4 decision and will be moving up to either 157 or 165.

Cole Santos, who finished third at 113 last February, captured the 106 title in 2023.

Newcomers expected to make noise are freshman Nate Greene at 120/126 and transfers Julian Paucar at 120/126, Micah Rothas at 132/138, Ryan Cassem at 144/150 and Jaden Ortiz at 165/175.

Rota

The Admirals have a relatively young squad in critical weight classes, coach Luke Spencer said, but they have enough experience to do some damage on the mats.

Rota has three European qualifiers back in senior Trevor Shannon and sophomores Leo McFarland and Jonathan King. Shannon went 15-9 last season and finished sixth at 190, and McFarland posted a 21-6 mark and took fourth at 106. King, meanwhile, didn’t place at Euros but went 19-5 at 175.

Shannon and King will wrestle at the same weight classes, while McFarland is moving up to 120.

New to the team are freshmen Leonidas McDonald and Judah Salmon.

SHAPE

The Spartans are split nearly evenly between returners and newcomers at 11 and 12, respectively.

Among the veterans, SHAPE has four Euro participants back. It starts with senior captain Donovan Traylor, who went 19-6 en route to a sixth-place finish at 150. Fellow senior captain Ethan Simmons qualified at 190, senior Federico Leongito at 138 and sophomore Demitrius “D.J.” Flenaugh at 150.

Others coming back are senior captain Julyan Serrano-Garcia, sophomore captain Michael McGlothlin, juniors Theodore Tintera, Matthijs Dijkstra and Eugy Zermeno, and sophomores Howard Traylor and Will Smith.

New to the squad are senior Christian Pernetti; juniors Flavio Nanni, Dennis Guerrero and Tristan Herno; sophomores Liam Kennington, Lorenzo Genovese, Arturs Skangalis and Levi Schaumburger; and freshmen Miguel Palmero Fabra, Santiago Paz, Peter Tvaruska and Daniel Hrabovsky.

Sigonella

A young squad may take some lumps this year, but new coach Samuel Werlinich sees a lot of potential for the future.

The lone two returners are Hudson Burcham and Scott Moran.

The rest of the squad will be filled with freshmen. Among those newbies are Braden Abel, Evan Thompson, Jackson Phifer, Liam Phifer, Caiden Roche, Lucca Deshazer, Nathanial Poole, Adam Gonzalez, Ryder Kirsch and Cristian Wilson.

Stuttgart

Matzke is back in charge at Stuttgart, and he’s got a large squad with many new faces.

The Panthers will bank on the experience of their four European placers. Senior Andrew Morrow moves up to 165 after placing third at 150, and sophomore Dominick Welsh will jump from 120, where he placed fourth. Sophomore Preston Schnieders is moving up one weight class from 120, at which he placed fifth, to 126, while junior Christian Groves is leaping from his fifth-place finish at 150 to 165.

Others coming back are seniors Jackson Coleman (132), Payton Kolesnikov (144) and Alex Levardi (215); juniors Zavie O’Leary Searles (120), Kenneth Lee (138), Rucell Phillip (138), Dane Westbury (150) and Zach Patterson (190); and sophomores Gabriel Hujo (126), Liam Travers (144) and Carson Griswold (144).

Among the long list of newcomers are sophomore Jacob Leas Cruz, who transferred from Alconbury, and seniors Alejandro Rivera (132), Zach Siani and Austin Griswold (175). Also joining are juniors Colyn Allan (120), Sammy Johnson (132), Josiah Tovar (144), Lief Moore (144) and Christopher Pfeifer (150); sophomores Floyd Lucero (113), Aslan Elmas (113) and Gabriel Porrata (132); and freshmen Daniel Kim (106), Westin Hawkes (106), Ryan Gilcrest (106), Emerson Timmons (120), Eli Pope (132), Jeremy Templeton (138), Cristian Donaldson (138), Nicholas Thomas (157), Holden Dunham (157) and Linus Soto (285).

Vicenza

The Cougars have eight returners headlined by Mitchell Horrigan, the defending European champion at 120 pounds.

The others are Jack Findlay, Joshua Gaspard, Kaito Goodfellow, Jagger Hoeft, Kyler Mukai, Paul Sturtevant and Elyas Tajeddine.

Wiesbaden

The Warriors expect to be competitive this winter and for good reason.

Wiesbaden can count on the experience of senior Munro Davis, who claimed the 132-pound European title last year. Stars and Stripes’ 2023-2024 wrestling Athlete of the Year will seek his third straight crown in a third weight class this campaign at 144.

Other returners are seniors John Colorado (138), Gavinn Eugene (165) and Hunter Luneke (175); juniors Phillip Garcia (138), Daniel Garin (285), Wyatt Massey (190), Alejandro Rios Cuellar (157) and Cristian Varela (165); and sophomores Matthew Dewey (150), Sage Kleisner (120), Isaac Nichols (157), Brogan Traugutt (190) and Sebastian Trujillo (215).

New to the team are juniors Jayden Yazzie (285) and Matthew Deich (285) and freshmen Ethan Martinez (215), Andrew Rueda (113) and Zacheriah Thompson (175).

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• 2024-25 DODEA-Europe wrestling schedule