ROCHESTER, Mich. – Showcasing the continued growth of the program over its three-year history, both the Oakland University Rocket League and Smash Bros. teams claimed National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) Varsity Premier conference championships this spring, making them the first Golden Grizzly squads to win conference titles at the sport's highest level.
NACE Varsity Premier is equivalent to a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I conference, such as the Horizon League, in your more traditional sports, and both Rocket League and Smash Bros. posted 6-1 regular season records and qualified for the top-16 national playoffs.
Consisting of juniors Nicholas "Typhoon" Banks, Austin "Spectral" Kujawa, Amaan "Poison Jam" Naqvi and Luan "Boomanter" Thao and freshman Tristan "Triscuit" Toma, the Smash Bros. team came within one game of playing for a national championship.
After defeating the Kennesaw State Owls in the April 13 Round of 16 and the Old Dominion Monarchs in the quarterfinals two days later, Oakland was bested by the Stony Brook Seawolves, 2-0, in the April 16 semifinals.
Rocket League, made up of senior and team captain Edward "Rahz" Azzam, junior Aidan "Whale" Cay and sophomore Jake "JWIZ" Wismont, had a briefer run in the postseason, falling to the Shawnee State Bears, 4-2, in the Round of 16, but the conference championship still represents a tremendous achievement for the team.
"I knew both teams had the capability to do it," head coach Carl Leone said regarding the historic conference titles.
"They both overperformed and made it happen, it wasn't easy at all, but going into the season, I knew Rocket League and Smash Brothers were both really strong rosters and they really have been the whole time that we've been doing it here.
"I'm just excited for them to finally get that NACE Premier championship because we've been so close to it, on both fronts, like every single season, so to finally get it is really sweet."
Embracing his new role as team captain this spring, Kujawa, the 2021-22 National Association of Esports Coaches & Directors (NAECAD) Smash Bros. National Player of the Year, was particularly vital to Oakland's success in the game title.
"He's just been fantastic, he's stepped up so much as far as being a leader," Leone shared.
"Next year's his last year, so he's getting to that point now where he's been in the program for three years so he knows what we should be doing and what the other players should expect of a team captain. I've been very impressed with what he's been doing this year, keeping everybody accountable, in-game and then out-of-game, too."
The Golden Grizzly Overwatch 2 squad also resided in Varsity Premier and the League of Legends and Rocket League B teams competed in the NCAA Division II equivalent, Varsity Plus. Each of these three game titles had extremely successful spring campaigns themselves, all either going undefeated in the regular season or suffering just a lone loss.
Besting the Northwood Timberwolves Black team, 4-1, on Monday, April 17, the Rocket League B team claimed their conference playoff championship, while League of Legends and Overwatch 2 also qualified for the postseason, but were knocked off by the Ohio State Buckeyes and Shenandoah (Winchester, Virginia) Hornets, respectively.
Exemplifying the depth the program currently possesses, particularly within this area, Oakland's Rocket League B team frequently competes against and beats most of their opponents' top teams in the game title.
"I would say our Rocket League A team is probably in the top-35 of all teams in North America right now and the B team is probably top-60," Leone shared.
"It's a really cool thing to see because you could see those players – Seth (Tison) and Billy (Sawyer) have been on the team since 2020 so they were signed as freshman – and they're coming up through the program, this is their third year, next year they'll graduate. So, for them to get so much better over that time is really cool to see."
While their competitive seasons are now over for the 2022-23 academic year, many Golden Grizzly Esports student-athletes will continue to sharpen their skills in the Grizz Den on the lower level of the Oakland Center, which features dozens of monitors, as well as pool and air hockey tables.
Any interested Oakland student can use the Grizz Den for free, provided they do not have a scheduled class during that period of time.
