We are in year 2 of competing in Nebraska Schools eSports Association (NSeSA). Winnebago is in Division 3 of NSeSA's classification which would equate to Class C. We had a successful first year last year winning state championships in both Mario Kart and SMITE. We also placed 3rd in Overwatch and 4th in Hearthstone last year. This year we had a decent Fall season but failed to qualify for state in any of those games (Rocket League, Valorant, Smash Bros Ultimate 1v1). We are near the end of the Winter season with only the State Finals remaining. This Winter eSports season consisted of 2 games: Clash Royale and Mario Kart 8. The NSeSA allows schools to have up to 2 teams for each game. Winnebago had 2 teams participate in both games. Here is an update on how those teams are doing:
Clash Royale - Team 1 (5-1)
#1 - Adain Robles, #2 - Damon Payer, #3 - Michael Hulit, Sub - Morgan Earth
Team 1 went undefeated in the regular season finishing 5-0 with the #2 overall seed going into the playoffs. In the playoffs they were upset by #7 Syracuse in the match to go to state losing by a score of 2-1. Not the finish we were hoping for but these guys did a great job all season long nonetheless and were still one of the best teams in the state despite missing out on a bid to the State Finals.
Clash Royale - Team 2 (5-1)
#1 - Cashus Kearnes, #2 - Eugene DeCora, #3 - Isaiah Armell, Sub - Aaron Hulit
Team 2 finished the regular season 4-1 with the #3 overall seed going into the playoffs. In the playoffs they defeated #6 Louisville in the match to go to state, winning by a score of 3-0. Their session at the NSeSA State Finals will start at 3:30pm on Friday, February 3rd at York University in York, NE. They will play #1-Stanton, #4- Louisville, and #7 Syracuse in a 4 team round robin tournament. Matches will be live streamed on NSeSA's twitch channel. Here is the full Clash Royale Bracket.
Mario Kart - Team 1 (7-0)
Devin Houghton, Marlin Mousseau, Damon Payer, Tylan Walker, Sub - Eugene DeCora
Team 1 went undefeated in the regular season 5-0 with the #1 overall seed going into the playoffs. In the playoffs they received a 1st round bye and advanced to the 3rd round via forfeit by #16 Thayer Central in round 2. In the 3rd round they defeated #9 Kearney Catholic 2-0 with scores of 108-48 and 116-40 to advance to the NSeSA State Finals. Their session at the State Finals will start at 6:30pm on Friday, February 3rd at York University in York, NE. They are set to face off against #4 Syracuse in the semifinals. On the opposite side of the bracket is #2 Ord vs #3 Conestoga. The matches will be live streamed on NSeSA's twitch channel. Here is the full Mario Kart Bracket.
Mario Kart - Team 2 (4-3)
Zayne Bassette, Eugene DeCora, Ayden Littlegeorge-Cloud, Hahewi Morgan, Sub - Kahlen Littlegeorge-Cloud
Team 2 finished the regular season 3-2 with the #7 overall seed going into playoffs. In the playoffs they received a 1st round bye and defeated #10 Amherst 2-0 with scores of 86-70 and 94-62 in the 2nd round. In the 3rd round they faced off against #2 Ord. They won the 1st cup 88-68 but couldn't quite pull off the upset losing the last 2 cups by the score of 85-71 in both. Heartbreaking loss at the end but they still had a good run this season.