Against its biggest rival, the Blinn College esports Overwatch team was unable to earn its first national championship.
The Buccaneers battled Bryant & Stratton College in the NJCAA Esports Overwatch National Tournament title match Wednesday and fell 3-0 in the best-of-five competition.
Blinn and Bryant & Stratton faced off in the NJCAA Esports championship for the fourth time, with each meeting going the way of the Bobcats.
Competing for the Bucs were Haluk Tanriseven, Matthew Hutchings, Dhruv Pandrangi, Donnivan Straight, and Braeden Greiffenstein.
Ahead of the match, the Bucs were without a key starting player and were forced to make adjustments to their lineup. Greiffenstein was promoted from the Overwatch junior varsity squad, while Hutchings was moved to a different game role in the team’s lineup. Blinn assistant coach and Overwatch manager Kyle Murto said the sudden shift caused Blinn to deploy an unfamiliar play style.
“Despite the adversity, Braeden and the rest of the team performed well under the circumstances,” Murto stated. “However, the unfamiliarity with the new playstyle led to a few critical mistakes that ultimately impacted the outcome of the match.”
Although Blinn Overwatch is still searching for its first national crown, the team has seen a recent surge in success dating back to its first championship appearance in the spring of 2022.
“The outcome was undoubtedly heartbreaking, as each encounter with Bryant and Stratton just piles on,” Murto said. “Regardless of the result, I am proud of all these players, as the things they have been able to accomplish this semester have been nothing short of fantastic. For the first time in Overwatch program history, we took down multiple top teams in the nation, cracked not only the Top 20 rankings but also held a Top 10 ranking in the nation, and had multiple top finishes in several leagues. These guys have a long career ahead of them and we will come back next year hungry and looking to finally bring the National Championship home.”
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 47 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
