WIESBADEN, Germany – Thanks to the pool format used Friday on Day 1 of the two-day 2012 DODDS-Europe wrestling championships, spectators and wrestlers didn’t have to wait until Saturday’s semifinals and finals to see championship-quality bouts.

That opportunity came early Friday afternoon when Patch sectional champ Jaden Fields, third here last year at 130, took on Rota’s Keaton Regenor, runner-up at 125 last season, in a second-round match at 132.

How does it feel to be matched against so strong an opponent so early in the tournament?

“It’s nerve-wracking, intense and exhilarating,” Fields said after detonating a 10-point third period on Regenor and walking off with a 12-5 decision. “It feels great to have won.”

The two had never wrestled each other before Friday, Fields said, but added that his wrestling partner at Patch, Jacob Andrus , had defeated Regenor 11-9 in a 2011 pool match and gave him some insight into Regenor’s tactics.

Fields and Regenor wrestled cautiously for the first two periods and were tied 2-2 when the final period started with Regenor in the advantage position. Fields touched off his explosion quietly, escaping to go up 3-2 with 1:32 left in the match.

Twenty seconds later, Fields caught Regenor in a head-and-arm, locking it in deeply for a takedown and near fall, good for four points, near the edge of the mat.

Regenor, whose left shoulder was injured during the flurry, escaped, but got caught trying a duck-under move for a takedown and surrendered a five-point move to Fields, who was pressing for the fall when the final buzzer sounded.

“That’s what I love about wrestling,” Fields said of the lively final 90 seconds.

The quality battle was a taste of things to come in one of the toughest weight classes in the tournament. Two unbeatens, 2011 125-pound gold-medalist Matt Lengyel of SHAPE and last year’s 130-pound king, Nik Weiser of Aviano, also have their eyes on gold at 132, along with K-town’s T.J. Daly, who downed Fields 12-9 in Round 3.

Regenor, who rebounded with a 9-4 victory over Kyle Leanhart of Lakenheath in Round 3, faced defending champ Weiser in Round 4, and dropped a 3-2 decision in the final minute.

Starting in the disadvantage position in the second period of the bout, Weiser escaped for a 1-0 lead going into the final two minutes.

As Regenor battled to escape, Weiser dodged a near-reversal which Regenor, who earned his escape point from the move, completed off the mat with 1:05 to go. Thirty seconds later, Weiser, who said he had no time plan for making his move, ducked under and hit a double-leg takedown for the decisive points.

“I just wanted to get my takedown,” Weiser said.

Other high seeds who had to battle back from early losses included two Ramstein stars, Ryan Goins, runner-up at 103 in 2011, and Anthony Zaferis, the 220-pound Northern Sectional champ who was 20-1 coming into this event.

Goins was forced to default his opening match at 113 to Patch’s John Kellett-Forsyth after he hyper-extended his left elbow, and Zaferis ran into Wiesbaden buzzsaw William Heiges, who dominated for a 9-1 verdict. Goins responded, however, by decking his next three foes; Zaferis rode a bye and two falls into Saturday’s Round 5.

Fields-Regenor wasn’t the only match-up of 2011 medalists in Friday’s early going. At 285, AFNORTH’s Tony Legare, third at 215 last year, rode two third-period takedowns to a 7-3 victory over defending 285-pound king Noah Hartley of Vilseck.

Hartley was the lone defending champ to lose Friday. Also victorious in the opening rounds were two-time champs Adam Franz of Ramstein, Adam Carroll of Lakenheath and Calen Fields of Patch.

Carroll led the way by registering four falls; Calen Fields pinned the three opponents he faced, and Franz posted a tech fall and a pin before emerging with a 2-1 decision in Round 4.

Joining Carroll and Calen Fields as 2011 champs who enjoyed all-falls days were Lengyel of SHAPE, Austin Morrow of Lakenheath and Dane Robbins of Bitburg. Weiser of Aviano and Heidelberg’s Jimmie McBride, the 2011 152-pound king, each scored three falls and a decision, and Ross Wilson of Patch chalked up two falls and a major decision.

That all these champs are well into the running again impressed one wrestler, freshman McKenna Fields of Patch, the grappling sister of Calen and Jaden.

“It’s fun,” she said after dropping a wild 23-9 verdict, being pinned in 50 seconds and then dominating Wiesbaden’s Zach Cassou 11-2 in her third bout, “but it’s tougher than I thought it would be.”

Saturday’s fifth-round matches are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., with the semifinals to follow at 11:30 a.m. Championship bouts are to begin at 1:30 p.m. at the Wiesbaden Army Airfield gym. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for students.

bryanr@estripes.osd.mil