LCCC Smash Bros. Crew Battle Squad Places 3rd in NJCAAE Postseason Tournament
November 21, 2025 - - The Lorain County Community College Esports team closed out its NJCAAE Division III Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Crew Battle postseason run on Friday, advancing to the national semifinals and securing a third-place finish after a strong tournament showing.
Entering the bracket as the No. 3 seed, LCCC earned its spot in the semifinals with two convincing victories in the DIII Opt-In Tournament last week. The squad of Gabriel Beckstrom (Lorain, Ohio/Clearview HS), Christopher Gonet (Lorain, Ohio/LCCC Early College), Traceton Bell (Oberlin, Ohio/Oberlin HS), and Jerron Warner (Avon, Ohio/Avon HS) opened the event by defeating Highland Community College, followed by another solid win over Herkimer County Community College in the second round.
The semifinal matchup paired LCCC against Heartland Community College, a familiar opponent that split the regular-season series with the Commodores. Despite the competitive history between the programs, Heartland controlled the semifinal round, handing LCCC a 3–0 loss.
The Commodores bounced back in the third-place consolation match, defeating Northcentral Technical College by a 3–1 score to close out the tournament on a high note.
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.