The streak continues. The Madison College Esports team is celebrating its third NJCAAE Grand Champion for the third consecutive semester - dating back to when the program began - after the WolfPack Valorant team earned a 2-0 victory over Northern Virginia Community College on December 10 to be crowned national champion. They are the first team game to win a title after individual
Kaden Crockett claimed back-to-back crowns as a solo player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate during the 2020-21 seasons. Valorant was joined in the national semifinals by the WolfPack Rocket League team. In all, Madison College and coach
Joe Hanson placed four teams and two individuals in the playoffs.
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Fall 2021 Madison College Esports Roster
The Madison College Valorant team was one of several to begin the postseason after completing a perfect 9-0 regular season that saw the WolfPack defeat every opponent by a 2-0 final. In the playoffs, they ran through Harrisburg Area Community College (PA) and Wake Technical Community College (NC) to reach the national semifinals, where they lost an individual game for the first time this season. The third-seeded WolfPack overcame the setback to win the best-of-three series over Lackawanna College (PA) in dramatic 2-1 fashion as the second-seeded Falcons were able to wipe out the WolfPack's spike, but unable to defuse it in time. It was on to the national final against and fourth-seeded two-time defending champion Nighthawks. The WolfPack were slow to find their footing in Game 1, and after dropping a few rounds early in that match it looked like Madison College was in trouble and digging a hole they couldn't climb out of. However, they made adjustments and flipped the script on their opponents, taking the next nine points to win the opener in epic comeback fashion. The WolfPack jumped on NOVA in Game 2 and halfway through held onto a small, yet growing, lead as they became the attacking side. In the championship clinching final battle, it was the WolfPack's Tristin "Hinata" Bird coming up huge by holding on 2v1 and earning the clutch victory after eliminating the remaining Nighthawk players.
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"When we were first thinking about starting a Valorant team for this Fall, we never expected to have that team competing in an NJCAAE Grand Finals in their first season together," stated Hanson. "By Week 2, it was clear that this team was gaining momentum and one of the players,
Carson Ziegler (Cdog), was willing to step in and fill that much needed captain or in-game leader role for a team composed of all freshman student-athletes. Every player on this team can make the big plays that are needed to claim victory and our WolfPack Valorant team has shown that they are not intimidated by anyone and have the track record to prove it."
The Rocket League squad rattled off nine consecutive wins after losing its season opener to State Fair College, which eventually went into the postseason as the #1 overall seed. The #9 WolfPack came into the playoffs following a month-plus hiatus due to forfeits at the end of the regular season, but hit the ground running and got past Garden City Community College (KS) in a thrilling 3-2 decision in the best-of-five series and Montgomery Community College (PA) by a 3-1 tally. In the semifinals, the 'Pack ran out of steam against fifth-seeded and eventual national-champion Northern Virginia Community College in a 3-0 setback.
Madison College Overwatch made improvements from Year 1 to Year 2, and reached the national quarterfinals in a league that included two- and four-year collegiate programs. They won four of their last five matches of the regular season to clinch a playoff spot. Following a 3-1 defeat of Stockton College (NJ), the WolfPack fell 3-0 against perennial power and top-seeded Northwood University (MI).
The program's top game a year ago was SSBU, and overshadowed by Crockett's consecutive national championships was back-to-back deep postseason runs by
Baxter Beckwith, who eventually lost in the postseason to Crockett in both 2020-21 semesters. Back for a second year, Beckwith was the only player to reach the playoffs for the WolfPack after a perfect 7-0 regular season. The Cottage Grove, Wisconsin, native cruised through the first round in a 3-0 win over Emrys M. of Coastal Bend College. In the second round, everything appeared to be heading in the right direction as Beckwith went up two-games-to-none, however, Union County College's Ethan T. pulled off an unbelievable reverse sweep to claim the upset victory.
The WolfPack saw two entities reach the postseason in Call of Duty, with the Gunfight team making the quarterfinals and Paisely Bennet making a strong push in the Warzone tournament. After a 5-2 regular season in Gunfight Duos, Madison College found themselves in a battle to start the playoffs, going a full seven games with Coastal Bend College (TX) before surviving to advance to the next round, where they took down Umpqua Community College (OR) by a 3-1 score. The quarterfinals brought undefeated Barton Community College (KS) and a four-game sweep to end the WolfPack's season. Meanwhile, Bennett, who held her own throughout the regular season's weekly Battle Royale matches, qualified for the championship round against the top 75 players in the country. After a 46th place finish in Game 1, the native of Monroe, Wisconsin, played to her best result of the season and placed 27th overall.Â
The lone game title not to make the postseason was FIFA 21, which went through an up-and-down season for
Hannah Fleming. The freshman from Madison, Wisconsin, had five matches decided by forfeit and was left out of the playoff picture.
"Everyone should be proud of both their team and individual successes earned over the past few months, and I'm extremely proud to have this group of players!"
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