Braden Reichert and Valorant Team Shine For Esports As Regular Season Nears End
March 22, 2026 - - The Lorain County Community College Esports team continued NJCAAE spring competition last week, highlighted by another dominant showing from the Valorant squad, which remained undefeated, and a strong week in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe competition by Braden Reichert (North Ridgeville, Ohio/Avon HS).
Chess – Division III
LCCC opened the week on Monday with Division III chess action as Austin Lukachko (North Ridgeville, Ohio/North Ridgeville HS) earned a 1–0 victory over Basit Shalash of Bluegrass Community and Technical College. Lukachko secured the Commodores' lone result in chess play for the week.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Solos – Tuesday
Division I
LCCC faced a challenging slate in Division I competition. Braydon Dobos (Oberlin, Ohio/Oberlin HS) dropped both of his matches, falling to Noah Guenette of Hudson Valley Community College and Andre Rice II of Calhoun Community College.
Lukachko competed in four matches but came up short in each contest against opponents from Guilford Technical Community College, SUNY Onondaga Community College, Northwest State Community College, and Brookdale Community College.
Jerron Warner (Avon, Ohio/Avon HS) also faced two tough matchups, falling to Joshua Bolman of Northwest State Community College and Brad Chapman of Brookdale Community College.
Division II
Traceton Bell (Oberlin, Ohio/Oberlin HS) split his matches, falling to Alexander Lovergine of Northwest Florida State College before bouncing back with a 3–0 victory over Jaylen Odamtten of SUNY Onondaga Community College. Bell carried that momentum into his second match of the night to secure LCCC's lone Division II win.
Division III
Bell also competed in Division III play, dropping a 3–0 decision to Levi Reising of Iowa Central Community College.
Hearthstone – Division III
Division III Hearthstone featured an all-LCCC slate of matchups. Xander Taylor (Elyria, Ohio/Huron HS) led the way with three wins over Veronica Gibson (Sandusky, Ohio/Trinity HS), posting victories by scores of 3–0, 3–1, and 3–1. Taylor also advanced via bye.
Gibson recorded three losses in the head-to-head series with Taylor.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Division III
Reichert turned in one of the top performances of the week, going undefeated in completed races with three victories. Reichert defeated Dayton Gulick and Ethan Carson of Finger Lakes Community College and Jayden Hunter of Northeastern Technical College, while also advancing through a bye.
Valorant – Division III
The LCCC Valorant team continued its dominant spring season, remaining undefeated with a 2–0 victory over Keyano College.
The lineup of Lukachko, 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 as the Commodores maintained their perfect record.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Crew Battle – Division III
Two LCCC teams competed in Friday's Crew Battle matches.
The LCCC 1 team of Austin Lukachko, Traceton Bell, and Anthony Moore (Columbus, Ohio/Graduation Alliance) fell in all three of its matchups, including two contests against Marshalltown Community College and one against LCCC 2.
The LCCC 2 squad of Warner, Christopher Gonet (Lorain, Ohio/LCCC Early College), and Gabriel Beckstrom (Lorain, Ohio/Clearview HS) posted a strong showing, earning wins over LCCC 1 and Jacksonville College while also advancing via bye.
LCCC continues NJCAAE spring competition next week as teams push toward the latter portion of the regular 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 (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.