Valorant and Smash Crew Battle Teams Remain Undefeated
March 6, 2026 - - The Lorain County Community College Esports team completed another week in National Junior College Athletic Association Esports (NJCAAE) competition this week, highlighted by an undefeated Valorant squad remaining perfect on the spring season, strong performances in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and another victory from the Commodores' second Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Crew Battle team.
Chess – Division III
LCCC opened the week with Division III chess matches on Monday. Austin Lukachko (North Ridgeville, Ohio/North Ridgeville HS) dropped two matches to Vicente Merino of NorthWest Arkansas Community College before earning a win over teammate Robert Smith.
Megan Dobos (Oberlin, Ohio/Oberlin HS) fell to Sandra Najdecka of Northwestern Junior College.
Smith split two matches with Wyatt Bryant of Kishwaukee College before dropping a contest to Michael Wease of Danville Area Community College. Smith also fell to Lukachko in their LCCC head-to-head matchup.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Solos – Tuesday
Division I
Jerron Warner (Avon, Ohio/Avon HS) led the Commodores in Division I play, earning a pair of victories. Warner defeated teammate Austin Lukachko (NeuRabbit) (North Ridgeville, Ohio/North Ridgeville HS), 3–0, before picking up another win over Caillou Kaneski of Lackawanna College.
Lukachko also faced Thomas Fair of Hinds Community College but fell 3–0. Braydon Dobos (Oberlin, Ohio/Oberlin HS) dropped both of his matches, falling to Matthew Larson of Heartland Community College and Jack Kost of Northwest State Community College.
Division II
Traceton Bell (Oberlin, Ohio/Oberlin HS) opened the evening with a 3–0 victory over Jinho Kwon of Northwest Florida State College before falling to Jacob Moyer of the University of South Carolina–Sumter.
Division III
Jason Thomas (Lorain, Ohio/Clearview HS) represented LCCC in Division III action, dropping matches to Gabriel Gore of Richard Bland College and Spencer Buttereit of Hudson Valley Community College.
Hearthstone – Division III
Division III Hearthstone featured several internal LCCC matchups. Xander Taylor (Elyria, Ohio/Huron HS) defeated Veronica Gibson (Sandusky, Ohio/Trinity HS) twice by identical 3–0 scores.
Austin Lukachko (North Ridgeville, Ohio/North Ridgeville HS) also posted two wins.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Division III
Braden Reichert posted a 2–1 record in Thursday's Mario Kart matches. Reichert defeated Lucia Rodriguez of Highland Community College and Emily Mays of Heartland Community College before falling in a rematch with Mays.
Collin Zielinski (North Olmsted, Ohio/North Olmsted HS) went 2–1 on the evening, earning wins over Emily Mays of Heartland Community College and Anne Dunay of Finger Lakes Community College before falling to Dayton Gulick of Finger Lakes Community College.
Valorant – Division III
The LCCC Valorant squad remained unbeaten during the spring season, improving to 7–0 with a 2–0 victory over Monroe College.
The lineup of Austin Lukachko (North Ridgeville, Ohio/North Ridgeville HS), Brody Taylor (North Ridgeville, Ohio/North Ridgeville HS), Braylon Zeman (North Ridgeville, Ohio/North Ridgeville HS), Kylie Zeman (North Ridgeville, Ohio/North Ridgeville HS), Tyler Misconish (Strongsville, Ohio/Strongsville HS), and Oliver Chambers (Collins, Ohio/Edison HS) secured the win.
Taylor led the team in kills during the opening map before rotating out for the second. The Commodores displayed strong team chemistry in the first map on Pearl, highlighted by a four-kill round from Taylor using Waylay's ultimate ability, Convergent Paths.
LCCC battled some adversity in the second round, but the Commodores secured the win 13–9, winning the final four games, through several clutch plays and strong post-plant rounds.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Crew Battle – Division III
Two LCCC teams competed in Friday's Crew Battle matches.
The LCCC 1 lineup of Austin Lukachko (North Ridgeville, Ohio/North Ridgeville HS), Traceton Bell (Oberlin, Ohio/Oberlin HS), and Braydon Dobos (Oberlin, Ohio/Oberlin HS) fell to San Jacinto College South. However, they rebounded with a 2-0 win against Iowa Western Community College.
The LCCC 2 team of Christopher Gonet (Lorain, Ohio/LCCC Early College), Jerron Warner (Avon, Ohio/Avon HS), and Anthony Moore (Columbus, Ohio/Graduation Alliance) earned a 2–0 victory over Hutchinson Community College. With the win, LCCC 2 improved to 6–0 during the spring season.
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 (January–August). 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.