Rota’s Quennette Kirkconnell, top, works to pin opponent Vivian Cortez of Ankara during a final match in the girls 105-pound class at Saturday’s DODEA Southern Europe wrestling sectionals at Naples Middle High School in Naples, Italy. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)

When she was younger, Athena Quiroz and her father, Jose, traveled yearly to Bakersfield, Calif., to watch the California Interscholastic Federation state wrestling championships.

The Rota sophomore and her father, who hasn’t been able to see her compete in person since moving from the Golden State to Spain’s Andalusia region this school year, won’t be making the same trek this week. Yet it still will feel like it.

Quiroz is one of 71 girls competing in eight weight classes during the first DODEA European girls wrestling championships Thursday through Saturday at the Wiesbaden Sports and Fitness Center in Germany.

“I wouldn’t say it’s exactly the same, but it’s almost the same concept,” Quiroz said. “It gives you that same kind of excitement that I got when I was younger going to these state tournaments and going to watch people I idolize a lot.”

Coming from one of the first states to sanction girls wrestling, Quiroz arrived in Europe at a great time.

DODEA-Europe introduced girls wrestling as a separate sport this season after years of girls grappling against boys. Girls regularly qualified for the European championships but failed to win a title, despite coming close with Stuttgart’s McKinley Fielding in 2020 and Ramstein graduate September Snyder in 2023.

The organization joined the trend on the other side of the Atlantic, where 45 states have girls wrestling as a varsity sport. The National Federation of State High School Associations stated the number of girls wrestled doubled from the 2021-2022 to the 2023-2024 school years.

And last month, the NCAA approved women’s wrestling as the 91st championship sport to begin next year.

DODEA-Europe’s addition has led to many rookies joining squads for the first time, and many of them have advanced to this weekend’s tournament. And enthusiasm is evident.

“It’s going to be an experience I’ve never did in my life,” said SHAPE freshman Sofia Colalongo, a judo athlete from Italy who is 14-0 on the season. “It will be so emotional.”

Not that all athletes stepping onto the mats Thursday will make their European debuts.

Quiroz’s Rota teammate, Quennette Kirkconnell, qualified for two European championships against the boys. The senior can recall when she was one of two girls for the Admirals and the only one to make it to Euros.

This season, however, the Admiral program has 15 girls, and all eight who grappled at the South sectional meet in Naples advanced to the final tournament.

Because of her experience, Kirkconnell has been fielding questions about the atmosphere and how to handle the pressure. The senior has cautioned her teammates from letting the stage, which includes four mats in front of a packed house, get to them.

“I don’t want to psyche them out, especially because it can be overwhelming, being the first girls division, first girls team to go out there,” Kirkconnell said. “I’m very proud of them, and I don’t want them to worry too much.”

After failing to qualify for the California tournament her freshman year, Quiroz has gone undefeated at 120 pounds this season.

Facing many of the same competitors for much of the season, the sophomore expressed her excitement at getting to square off with some new faces this week, including Alconbury’s Richele Reyes.

“It’s a little nerve-racking, since it’s going to be on a bigger stage, arena than it was the last couple of months,” Quiroz said. “It’s not going to be the kids I’ve been wrestling over and over again, but it’s going to be great to get out and get some new experience with new wrestlers.”

Kirkconnell, for her part, said she’s happy not to have to take on the boys, who generally outmuscled her in matches. Now, she and her opponents can largely focus on technique to win bouts.

And based off her experience this winter, she’s optimistic about the future of girl’s wrestling.

“It should have come a lot sooner, and I think it’s going to be here forever,” Kirkconnell said. “I’m so proud to be here, to have it as first year with girls wrestling/last year of me wrestling is a great way to go out, and I’m excited to see it grow.”