An official dynasty has formed inside the walls of the Madison College Esports Lab, where head coach Joe Hanson has led the WolfPack to its ninth NJCAAE national championship in the program's ninth semester of existence. In addition, Hanson also fielded a dynasty within a dynasty within the game title Valorant, as Madison College rolled to a third straight crown and fourth title overall. The Pack also earned a national runner-up finish in Rocket League and a final four appearance by Connor Mayhew in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

"This past season exceeded our expectations of what we could achieve after half of our roster graduated last spring. The dedication and competitive mindset of our team is what made this season so remarkable. Each team roster has a story to be told, but our Valorant team not only won their 3rd consecutive championship, but has remained undefeated during those three seasons as well. This team is never content with their historic run and are already looking forward to running it back again this spring!"

Valorant (Team 1 - Sean Lahey, Ethan Hanson, Bhim Gurung, Tyler Beyer, Nicholas Patterson, Noah Nedbalek, Blake Thurston, Aidan Wenzel, Jaewon Lim)

The two-time defending NJCAAE Contender Series champions were all business in the fall, leaving no doubt who the best team in the nation was. After dropping just one game during a 7-0 regular season, the #1-seeded WolfPack secured back-to-back 2-1 wins over #8-seed Centralia College in the quarterfinals and #4-seed Catawba Valley Community College in the semifinals, both of which saw the Pack lose Game 2 of the best-of-three series. The best-of-five championship against #6-seed Montgomery County Community College was a rematch of a 2-0 win for Madison College on November 7; however, the Mustangs were ready and eeked out a win in Game 1. The WolfPack gathered themselves and rolled to three consecutive game wins for a 3-1 final score to remain champions.



WATCH: NJCAAE Contender Series Championship - (1) Madison College vs. (6) Montgomery County Community College
NJCAAE Valorant Contender Series Bracket

Rocket League (Team 1 - Alexander Krueger, Robert Saltzman, Matthew Suhr, Jalen Wilson| Team 2 - Ethan Transue, Noah Freeman, Ethan Hanson)

The WolfPack once again fielded multiple Rocket League teams for the Fall 2024 semester, both of whom were attempting to repeat after NJCAAE championships in two different series in the spring. Team 1 competed in the Premier Series and rolled to a 10-2 record in the regular season, which earned Madison College the #3 seed in the eight-team postseason tournament. Squaring off against #6-seed Western Technical College in Round 1. After takings Games 1 and 2 in the best-of-five series, the Pack suffered a reverse sweep and dropped the match 3-2 to fall into the elimination bracket. The defending champs kept their title hopes alive with a 3-1 victory over #7-seed Union County College despite falling in the first game. Up next was #4-seed Wake Technical Community College in Losers Round 2. After losing the first two games, Madison College got on the board with a win in Game 3, but saw their season end with a 3-1 match loss to finish 11-4.

Team 2 competed as the reigning Contender Series champs, and after a 6-2 mark in the regular season, received the #4-seed in the eight-team postseason bracket. A back-and-forth Round 1 match against #5-seed State Fair Community College resulted in a 3-2 loss and put the WolfPack's backs against the wall in the elimination bracket. Madison College, however, did not lose their swagger, and promptly made its wait through the losers bracket with elimination match wins of 3-0 over #8-seed Carl Albert State College, 3-0 against #2-seed State Technical College of Missouri, and a low-scoring rematch with SFCC that finished 3-2 in favor of the WolfPack with each game ending in a 1-0 score. It was on to the semifinals against #3-seed Walters State College, where the Pack again survived a low-scoring, back-and-forth tussle to win 3-2 and return to the championship round. Waiting there was top-seeded Bismarch State College, who had been beaten just one during the season. The Mystics claims wins in the first two games, only to see Madison College turn the tide with Game 3 and Game 4 wins of 3-2 to force a winner-take-all Game 5 that belonged all to BSC with a 7-1 decision for the 3-2 match victory. It was the WolfPack's fifth appearance in a Rocket League grand final and resulted in their second national runner-up.



WATCH: NJCAA Contender Series Championship - (4) Madison College vs. (1) Bismarck State College
NJCAAE Rocket League Premier Series Bracket
NJCAAE Rocket League Contender Series Bracket

The two teams also competed in the Midwest Collegiate Rocket League (MCRL), with Team 1 going 3-1 and Team 2 posting a 1-7 mark. The two even squared off on October 28, a match that saw Team 1 come away with a 3-2 victory.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Players - Connor Mayhew, Samuel Wang , & Celeste House)

The NJCAAE regular season wrapped up with Mayhew owning a record of 5-2, and House and Wang sitting at 4-3. Despite the record, House did not qualify for the 35-person field in the postseason, while Mayhew earned the tournament's #8 seed and Wang received the #24 seed. After both were awarded Round 1 byes, Mayhew advanced with a 3-0 win over #25 Salt Lake Community College (Shulegal), while Wang dropped a 3-0 contest to #9 Marshalltown Community College (Shadowbolt) that avoided a WolfPack vs. WolfPack situation in Round 3. Now facing elimination, Wang held off #35 Marshalltown CC (CallmeCorrin) by a 3-1 tally in Losers Round 2 and a 3-0 sweep of #25 SLCC (Shulegal) in Losers Round 3. Losers Round 4 brought a challenge against #10 Marshalltown Community College (JVBandJV), and Wang suffered a 3-0 loss to complete his season with a 6-5 record. 

Meanwhile, Mayhew was beaten 3-2 in a Round 3, five-game thriller against #9 Marshalltown CC (Shadowbolt) to drop into the elimination bracket. A win via forfeit against #23 Laredo College (Luis) in a Losers Round 4 match ignited an impressive run of four straight elimination game victories for Mayhew as he defeated #17 Ocean County College (Cakewalk) in Losers Round 5 with a 3-1 score, took down #6 Lackawanna Community College (Puffy) with a 3-1 decision in Losers Round 6, survived a 3-2 upset over #2 (Muskegon Community College (Jyrem) in Round 12, and scored a 3-1 victory over #9 MCC (Shadowbolt) to secure on of the final four spots. Mayhew faced a touch challenge of needing three wins over three different opponents to win the national championship; however, that dream went away when he was defeated 3-0 in the quarterfinals by #3 Marshalltown (Heerio) to earn a fourth-place finish nationally with a final record of 11-4. 

NJCAAE Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Contender Series Bracket

Overwatch 2 (Team - Grace Simpson, Amber Evans, Riley Woyach, Isaac Whitson, Paul Lucero, Robert Saltzman)

After opening the season with a five-game win over Onandaga Community College, the WolfPack lost back-to-back contest. Madison College rebounded with a pair of wins against Salt Lake Community College and Rockland Community College; however, two more setbacks to Marshalltown Community College and State Fair Community College gave the WolfPack a 3-4 record that was not good enough to qualify for the NJCAAE postseason.

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