MADISON, WISC. - The inaugural season of Madison College Esports enjoyed a bigger finish than anyone likely would have dreamed of. On Wednesday, December 16, freshman
Kaden Crockett laid claim to the title of NJCAAE Grand Champion with a pair of wins in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate to give the newest WolfPack athletic program its first national champion. Crockett defeated teammate
Baxter Beckwith 4-3 in a hotly contested semifinal that ensured Madison College would be represented in the title match, which Crockett won 4-0 over Murad S. of Montgomery County Community College (PA) to remain the last player standing in a 32-person tournament. Crockett and Beckwith are both Cottage Grove, Wisconsin, natives and graduates of Monona Grove High School.
(Watch video above for reaction from Kaden Crockett and coach Joe Hanson)
Both Crockett and Beckwith reached the national tournament with 7-1 records and were ranked second and third, respectively. After neither lost a single game in any of their best-of-seven series through the tournament's first three rounds, it set up a showdown between the longtime friends in the national semifinals and ensured Madison College would have a representative in the title match. In what turned out to be one of the best SSBU series of the season, Crockett and Beckwith came down to the final game, which Crockett was able to win to advance.
In the Grand Final he drew the "Fruitsmasher", the #12 seed out of Montgomery County that had already pulled off a series of upsets, including a 4-0 win over the top-ranked player in the other semifinal. According to coach
Joe Hanson, "the Grand Finals series was exciting to watch with both players starting out playing very defensively and gradually becoming more aggressive as each match of the series completes." In the end, Crockett swept the finals in four games.
"All of our players showed the characteristics that we demand as a member of the Madison College WolfPack," said Hanson, who is optimistic about Crockett's title defense possibilities in the Spring 2021 semester. "Win or lose, our players continuously showed respect, humility, and dedication as we navigated this inaugural season together. We have established our team in the NJCAAE tournament with the championship victory and have shown that we are capable of greatness no matter what challenges we face."
Crockett finished the season with a 12-1 record, while Beckwith was 10-1, and the duo combined for an 8-1 mark in the postseason. Collectively, the Madison College Esports team posted a 29-26-3 record during the regular season.
WolfPack Esports preparing for debut season's second semester
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