CHEYENNE, WY – The Laramie County Community College esports teams wrapped up their fall seasons with their final NJCAAE national championship matches on Saturday afternoon, and picked up a second national title in as many days as Jesse Wardle completed an undefeated run through the Mario Kart 8 bracket with a victory over Union College of Union County New Jersey, picking up the first MK8 title in program history in the process.
"It's great that Jesse did it," Head Esports Coach John Kershaw said. "I knew that he was going to do it and it's nice to see that everything he said he was going to do and everything I saw in him came to fruition, and he got it done."
In what was his second match against the Owls in as many days, after taking them down in the third round of the winner's bracket on Friday night, things started off a little shaky with the opening race of the best of seven going to UCNJ.
Wardle wasn't fazed though and showed the same calm demeanor he had possessed all postseason long when things got tough and rallied to win the next three races to take a commanding 3-1 lead, putting him on the precipice of the title.
"One of the main strategies he had was to hang out in the back to get good items, so I picked maps that favored first over second place, like Riverside Park which is a very short map and a bunch of coins at the start. That gave me huge leads as long as he didn't hit me, which didn't happen."
The Owls racer picked up a win in the fifth map to stave off one of the match points, but Wardle used his map choice on the sixth to select one that fit his style perfectly, and he ran away with the final race to clinch the National Title with a 4-2 final score.
"It feels pretty great," Wardle said. "I still can't believe it on how the match went. I played extremely well, and it feels great. I'm so glad that I won the tiebreaker yesterday and that helped out so much, because if not, I don't think I would have won nationals."
Wardle's run to the title wasn't an easy one, having to fight off Iowa Western in the quarterfinals in a match that went the distance, and having his first match with UCNJ go all seven as well, rallying to win the final two races in both contests.
"I think Mike Tyson said it best, that everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth and Jesse got punched in the mouth a couple of times, but he came up with a plan and kept grinding. He showed he's a competitor and now he's a national champion," Kershaw said.
The title comes to Wardle in his first full season with the Golden Eagles after he was recruited by Kershaw after winning the CHSAA state title last spring for Pueblo West High School. While there he also picked up a 4v4 title as well with the Cyclones.
Wardle had told Kershaw that he was going to win him a title, and he felt proud to live up to the promise.
"I feel that he is very proud of me. I'm very happy to be here. Very happy that I took this opportunity to prove how good I am at Mario Kart.
The Golden Eagle will now prepare to defend his title in the spring season when esports resume in February. For more information, please visit www.golccc.com.
CALL OF DUTY: WARZONE
The Golden Eagles saw their season ended in a tough loss to the top seeded Dallas College North Lake Blazers on Saturday afternoon, ending a run of three consecutive national titles for the Golden Eagles in what has been their most successful game since the start of the program.
LCCC was eliminated early in the first map but seemed to rally back in the second map until the Blazers exploded for a 35-kill score after the Golden Eagles had been eliminated. The final map was closer, with the Golden Eagles getting out to an early advantage, taking an 8-2 lead early, but North Lake was able to stay alive long enough to fight back and win the final round 10-8 to sweep the Golden Eagles.