Madison College Esports had the Midas touch for the Spring 2024 semester. The WolfPack completed the program's fourth full year of competition with its most successful semester so far, winning three NJCAAE national championships and adding another runner-up. In short, Madison College repeated as Valorant champs, swept two different series of Rocket League tournaments, and saw a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate player make the grand final for a third time. Coach Joe Hanson and the WolfPack now boast eight championships in as many semesters.

Valorant (Team 1 - Sean Lahey, Ethan Hanson, Ava Johnson, Michael Thao, Tyler Beyer, Connor Kosiorek)

After securing the program's second Valorant title in the fall with a 3-1 win over South Puget Sound Community College, the WolfPack returned just two players from the prior semester and knew a fast rebuild was in order if there were to be any thoughts of a repeat.  A 4-2 record in the regular season resulted in Madison College receiving the #4-seed in the NJCAA Valorant postseason. They opened quarterfinal play against #5-seed Guilford Technical Community College (NC) and narrowly pulled out a 2-1 win in the best-of-three series. The semifinal round brought a rematch of their WolfPack's final regular season match, which resulted in a 2-1 loss to Catawba Valley Community College (NC). Despite the Red Hawks being the #1 seed, Madison College was ready and dominated in a 2-0 sweep to clinch their fourth appearance in the Grand Final in the last five semesters. In the finale, the Pack squared off with #3-seed Bismarck State College (ND) in a best-of-five series and steamrolled the Mystics in a 3-0 sweep that concluded with a 13-3 victory on Game 3's Lotus map to earn the program's third Valorant championship.



"This was out team's first back-to-back championship for a team game. When the season began and we had less than half of the Fall roster returning, we went from two teams down to one and focused on rebuilding. At about the halfway point of the season, we settled in with the new roles and everything else fell in place."

WATCH: NJCAAE Contender Series Championship - Madison College vs Bismarck State College
NJCAAE Valorant Contender Series Bracket

Rocket League (Team 0 - Ian Conlin, Alexander Krueger, Matthew Suhr | Team 1 - Robert Saltzman, Tyler Arnold, Andrew Lulis | Team 2 - Ethan Transue, Noah Freeman, Ethan Hanson)

The story of WolfPack Rocket League teams in the Spring 2024 semester has many chapters, and it begins with the historic run of Team 0. The Pack cruised through their Premier Series schedule unscathed, having dropped a just two total games in all matches combined. In a new format this semester, Madison College first needed to conquer the East Super Regional, which they did with wins over Daytona State College (FL) and twice against Heartland Community College (IL) to secure the top seed in the NJCAAE National Tournament. Their run of dominance continued with a 3-0 sweep of Barton Community College (KS) in the quarterfinals, setting up a meeting with in-state rival Western Technical College in the semifinals. After faltering in the opening game against the Cavaliers, the WolfPack regrouped and rattled off three consecutive wins to take the match in four games. The bracket once again brought Madison and Heartland together for the Grand Final, marking their fifth get-together of the semester. The WolfPack was 4-0 in the prior contests with a game record of 12-1. Playing a best-of-five series for the crown, Madison quickly secured wins in the first three games, and after the Hawks forced the match into a fifth, which the top seed claimed for the 4-1 victory to clinch the program's second championship in their third consecutive appearance in the Grand Final. The trio of Conlin, Krueger, and Suhr finished the season with a perfect 16-0 record.



"Our Premier Series RL Team 0 was simply incredible to watch this past season. Their undefeated regular season in the NJCAAEwas capped off as they won the East Region Playoffs on their way to the national championship. This title, and the way the team went about earning it, is an accomplishment that will be remembered for years to come."

WATCH: NJCAAE Premier Series National Championship - Madison College vs Heartland CC
NJCAAE Premier Series Rocket League Bracket

The next chapter belongs to Team 1 and Team 2, competing in the NJCAAE Contender Series. The two teams posted a combined regular season record of 10-3, and entered the postseason as the #2 (Team 2) and #4 (Team 1) teams in the nation. Following quarterfinal sweeps of #7-seed Carl Albert State College and #5-seed Salt Lake Community College, the WolfPack found opposite results in the semifinals. Team 2 overcame a first game setback against #3-seed Harrisburg Area Community College (PA) to move into the Grand Finals; however, Team 1 was unable to hold onto a two-games-to-one lead against top-seeded State Fair Community College (MO), who used an overtime goal to claim a 3-2 match win. In the lower bracket, Team 1 picked up a Round 2 win by a 3-1 score against #6-seed State Technical College of Missouri. With dreams of an all-Madison College championship, Team 1 advanced to Round 3 of the lower bracket for a meeting with #3 HACC, and yet another 2-1 series lead slipped away in a five-game loss to end their season with a 7-4 record. Team 2, meanwhile, dominated an upper bracket finals meeting with #1 SFCC by a 3-0 score, and then found themselves in a rematch for the true Grand Finals. The Roadrunners showed why they entered the playoffs as the top dog, claiming a 3-1. The only problem: that was just the first loss for Madison College in the double-elimination event. The WolfPack bounced right back in the winner-tale-all finale and, bolstered by an unofficial "hype squad" of Team 1 fresh off their championship win, swept State Fair 3-0 to give the Pack a second Rocket League championship in the same semester. Team 2, which used a sudden-death overtime goal to win Game 2 of the series, went 9-2 en route to earning the program's eight overall national title.

"Both of our teams playing the Contenders Series made the playoffs, and while we were hopeful that we could see a Madison vs. Madison Grand Final, the reality of this occurring was a long shot. in the end, Team 2 made it to the Grand Finals, where they were fortunately able to utilize a bracket reset in order to claim victory against SFCC."

WATCH: NJCAAE Contender Series Grand Finals - Madison College vs State Fair CC
NJCAAE Contender Series Rocket League Bracket

A third chapter of the Spring 2024 Rocket League story was written more locally a week later. Madison College competed all season in the Wisconsin Collegiate Rocket League and earned bids into the LAN Tournament in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The WolfPack's Team 0 went 9-0 in the regular season against WCRL Division 1 opponents, rolled to yet another title as it defended state championship from the previous spring. They completed their run with a 4-2 win over the University of Wisconsin in a best-of-seven series to complete an undefeated season. Madison College's Team 1 and Team 2 each competed in the LAN Division 3/4 field. Team 1 earned three wins, but was eventually eliminated with a 3-2 loss to UW-Green Bay to complete a 7-5 season. Team 2, however, kept the momentum from their NJCAA title with an impressive run to claim the program's second WCRL LAN banner. Despite a 3-2 quarterfinals loss to Waukesha County Technical College, the Pack rattled off three straight wins in the losers bracket, including a 3-2 revenge victory over WCTC, to reach the Grand Finals. There they held off UW-River Falls for a 4-2 decision in the best-of-seven series.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Premier Series - Mario Rea-Garcia | Contender Series: Connor Mayhew & Celeste House)

Like a flower, Madison College's Mario Rea-Garcia blooms each spring with an impressive run in SSBU. Following national runner-up finishes in Spring 2022 and Spring 2023, the veteran player was eyeing that break through moment in Spring 2024. After an impressive 10-1 regular season in the Premier Series, he began postseason play in the NJCAAE East Super Regional, where he lost a Round 2 match to top-seeded Daytona State College (FL) and fell into the lower bracket. Five consecutive wins after that returned Rea-Garcia to the Regional Final, where he again lost to Daytona State College in three games. That appearance awarded him a spot in the NJCAAE National Semifinals as the #3-seed. A disappointing 3-0 setback against #2-seeded Centralia College (WA) again forced him into the losers bracket and another back-against-the-wall sequence of matches. He eliminated #4-seed Iowa Central Community College with a 3-1 decision, and then came through in a decisive Game 5 with a 1-0 score to claim a 3-2 victory in a rematch with Centralia College. Back in the Grand Finals for the third straight spring semester, Rea-Garcia went up against DSC for a third time, and ultimately took another 3-0 loss for his third national runner-up. He finished the season with an 18-5 record.



"Mario played well all season long and sadly found an opponent that forced him to struggle. He should take tremendous pride in his career accomplishment of three NJCAAE runner-up finishes over three years. We've been lucky to have him as part of Madison College Esports and he has helped carry on a tradition of winning in SSBU."

In the Contender Series, Madison College's Connor Mayhew and Celeste House finished their regular seasons with records of 5-2 and 2-5, respectively. The winning record by Mayhew earned him a spot in the NJCAAE Playoffs as a #10 seed in a 32-person field. A 3-1 win over #23 Florida Gateway College in Round 1 was followed by a 3-1 loss to #26-seed Jefferson State Community College in Round 2. Now competing in the Losers Round 2, he overcame #20 Highland Community College by a 3-1 tally to reach Losers Round 3, where #15 Monroe College brought his title aspirations to a halt with a 3-1 loss. He finished the season with a 7-4 record.

WATCH: NJCAAE Premier Series Lower Finals - Madison College: Mario RG vs Centralia College: Charlie D
NJCAAE SSBU Premier Series Bracket | NJCAAE SSBU Contender Series Bracket

Overwatch 2

The Overwatch 2 squad rebounded from a 1-2 start to the season with three straight wins, and went on to post a 4-4 record in the regular season. As a result, the WolfPack was awarded a #10-seed in the 16-team NJCAAE Contender Series playoffs, which featured a single-elimination format. Madison College drew #7-seed Marshalltown Community College (IA) in Round 1, and despite a good effort, were eliminated with a 3-0 loss in the best-of-three series.

NJCAAE Overwatch 2 Contender Series Bracket
 
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