Valorant Remains Undefeated; CommodoreEsports Week 4 Recap

October 18, 2025 - -  The Lorain County Community College Esports teams continued their fall season with another action-packed week of NJCAAE competition, showcasing strong performances across multiple titles.  From dominating wins in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Valorant to tight matchups in Hearthstone and Madden, the Commodores demonstrated their depth and determination in Week 4 play.

Division III

In Marvel Rivals, the Commodores fell 3-0 to Rhodes State College in Week 4 play. The lineup of Caleb Rodriguez (Lorain, Ohio/East River HS), Caleb Tutor (Elyria, Ohio/Open Door Christian), Anthony Moore (Columbus, Ohio/Graduation Alliance), Tim Yost (Vermilion, Ohio/JVS), Jacob Joy (North Ridgeville, Ohio/Open Door Christian), and Yariel De Jesus (Lorain, Ohio/Lorain HS) battled throughout the series but couldn't overcome Rhodes' strong offensive push.  LCCC will look to bounce back in Week 5 as they aim to return to the win column.

Meanwhile, in Chess, the Commodores earned a clean sweep on on Monday night. Jacob Kyer (Elyria, Ohio/Keystone HS)) secured two wins — defeating Hutchinson Community College's Zachariah Perkins and Finger Lakes Community College's Noah Droulin.

Jerron Warner (Avon, Ohio/Avon HS) posted three straight wins in 1v1 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate competition in DIII — a 3–1 over Caitlyn Duncan (Northwest College), 3–0 over Brecken Gavagan (Marshalltown Community College), and a 3–0 sweep against teammate Traceton Bell (Oberlin, Ohio/Oberlin HS), Bell's only match of the week in DIII.  Gabriel Beckstrom (Lorain, Ohio/Clearview HS) earned a pair of wins to improve to 7-2, defeating Samuel Gross (Ocean County College) 3–1 and Evelyn Newman (Richard Bland College) 3–0, while narrowly falling 3–2 to Hieu Do (Northwest Florida State College).  Austin Lukachko (North Ridgeville, Ohio/North Ridgeville HS) picked up one win, topping Andrew Smith (Bevill State Community College) 3–1 before dropping matches to Jael Corona (Wake Technical Community College) and Keaton Cornell (Connors State College).  Anthony Moore (Columbus, Ohio/Graduation Alliance) also competed, facing a tough 3–0 loss to Nicolas Martinez of Luzerne County Community College.

In Hearthstone Division III, Xander Taylor (Elyria, Ohio/Huron HS) went 2-2 on Tuesday with wins over Rylan Roach (Three Rivers College) and teammate Veronica Gibson (Sandusky, Ohio/Trinity HS).  Gibson, going 1-2 on the night, fell to Asa McKaig (Frosty) of Finger Lakes Community College before she rebounded with a 3–1 win over Taylor in their rematch.

In Madden, Brandon Ross (Elyria, Ohio/LCCC Early College) went 1-1 on the evening, picking up a win against Hayden Turner of Northwest College before losing to Jachristian Sutton of Mississippi Delta Community College.  Toby Gibson (Sandusky, Ohio/St. Mary's HS) lost both of his matches to Jay Zielstorf of Marshalltown Community College and Heim Fornett of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.

On Thursday in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Collin Zielinski (North Olmsted, Ohio/North Olmsted HS) won three out of the four matches that he played to improve his record to 4-2 in the fall.

Valorant continued its tear against D3 opponents.  The team of Lukachko, Brody Taylor (North Ridgeville, Ohio/North Ridgeville HS), Tyler Misconish (Strongsville, Ohio/Strongsville HS), Braylon Zeman (North Ridgeville, Ohio/North Ridgeville HS), Kylie Zeman (North Ridgeville, Ohio/North Ridgeville HS) picked up their fifth win of the fall and remained undefeated in division III play.

In more first person shooter titles, Anthony Moore (Columbus, Ohio/Graduation Alliance HS) and Gwen King (Elyria, Ohio/Oberlin HS) came up short in Call of Duty: Gunfight on Thursday against Amarillo College. 

Rounding out the week on Friday in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Crew Battles, Beckstrom, Warner and Christopher Gonet (Lorain, Ohio/LCCC Early College) split a pair of matches, picking up a win against North Arkansas College before falling to Northcentral Technical College in three rounds.

Divisions I and II

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Division I, Warner continued his excellent season with two commanding victories.  He defeated Douglas Nienberg (Reptilian) of Northwest State Community College 3–1 and followed with a 3–0 sweep over Nikita Fernandez (1SmolGal), also from Northwest State.  Warner's back-to-back wins improve his record to 7–2 on the season, solidifying his place among the top performers in Division I play.

In Division II, Lukachko had a strong showing, earning a 3–0 win over Catawba Valley Community College's Zachary Martin and a forfeit victory over Marion Mensah (Waubonsee Community College).  Traceton Bell (BellBoy) added another win by forfeit against Harrisburg Area Community College before narrowly falling 3–2 to Emmanuel Garrido (Northwest Florida State College).

In Division I Rainbow Six Siege, the team of Jacob Kyer (Elyria, Ohio/Keystone HS), Noah Duncan (Walnut Grove, N.C./North Ridgeville HS), Cody Adkins (Elyria, Ohio/Midview HS), Steven Robbins (Amherst, Ohio/Avon HS) and Lucas Hurley (LaGrange, Ohio/Keystone HS) lost to North Virginia Community College on Friday.

About CommodoreEsports:

LCCC's Esports team competes in the National Junior College Athletic Association Esports (NJCAAE), which is divided into three competition divisions:

Division 1: The highest level of NJCAAE competition, featuring teams composed of eligible students.

Division 2: The mid-level competition, also for teams of eligible students.

Division 3: The most accessible level, open to participants who do not have to meet student eligibility requirements but must be associated with LCCC.

The NJCAAE has two seasons: fall (September–December) and spring (February–April). Both seasons last seven weeks before the postseason begins. LCCC has players competing across all three divisions, and full-time students can choose to participate in any tier.

Games LCCC Esports Competes or has competed in:

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – A fighting game featuring characters from the Nintendo universe, played on the Nintendo Switch. Players can compete in 1v1 best-of-five matches or Crew Battle, a 3v3 elimination-style format.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – A racing game featuring Nintendo characters, also played on the Nintendo Switch.

Valorant – A PC first-person shooter where teams of five compete in a best-of-three format. One team attempts to plant and detonate a spike, while the opposing team tries to defuse it.

Overwatch 2 – Another first-person shooter, in which teams compete using unique hero characters.

Fortnite – LCCC began competing in this battle royale game in 2024.

Marvel Rivals – A 6v6 third-person shooter featuring characters from the Marvel Universe, with LCCC set to begin competition in spring 2025.

Rainbow 6 Siege - a tactical, online multiplayer shooter where two teams of five compete in high-stakes scenarios like hostage rescues and bomb defusals. The game features intense, close-quarters combat within highly destructible indoor environments, forcing players to strategize using specialized "Operators" with unique skills and gadgets.

Madden – A football simulation game.

Tekken & Street Fighter – Both hand-to-hand combat fighting games.

Hearthstone - Building upon the existing lore of the Warcraft series, a turn-based card game between two opponents, using constructed decks of 30 cards along with a selected hero with a unique power.

Call of Duty: Warzone - Battle royale style first-person shooter game

Chess - The classic strategy board game for two players, who each move 16 pieces of six different types across a 64-square checkered board. The objective is to checkmate the opponent's king, which occurs when the king is under attack and has no legal move to escape.