LCCC Esports Spring Season Wrap Up
May 26, 2026 - - The Spring 2026 season proved to be one of the most successful campaigns in recent memory for the Lorain County Community College esports program, as the Commodores produced national tournament appearances, multiple top-eight finishes, and a runner-up finish in NJCAAE Division III Valorant competition.
LCCC competed across Chess, Hearthstone, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and Valorant throughout the spring semester, consistently qualifying players and teams for postseason competition.
The biggest team accomplishment of the spring came in Valorant, where the Commodores advanced all the way to the NJCAAE Division III Championship match. The roster of Austin Lukachko (North Ridgeville, Ohio/North Ridgeville HS), Broderick 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), Gilbert Chambers (Collins, Ohio/Edison HS), and Robert Smith (Lorain, Ohio/Firelands HS) helped the Commodores finish the regular season undefeated at 12-0 while posting a 24-1 record in individual rounds.
In the playoffs, LCCC defeated Richard Bland College, College of DuPage, and Brookdale Community College to advance to the national championship match before ultimately falling to St. Charles Community College in a competitive 2-1 series. During the semifinal victory over Brookdale, the Commodores rallied from a 7-2 deficit on the Lotus map to win 13-11 before dominating Pearl 13-2 to secure a berth in the finals.
For Taylor, both Zeman siblings, and Misconish, the championship appearance was especially rewarding after spending nearly two years competing together as part of the growth of LCCC's Division III Valorant program.
Individually, Lukachko turned in one of the top all-around performances in the NJCAAE during the spring season. In addition to helping the Valorant squad to a national runner-up finish, Lukachko placed second nationally in Division III Hearthstone and fourth nationally in Division III Chess.
In Hearthstone, LCCC placed three competitors inside the top eight of the Division III postseason tournament. Veronica Gibson (Sandusky, Ohio/Trinity HS) finished third nationally after defeating Alex Goble of Finger Lakes Community College and Matt Walsh of Finger Lakes Community College during postseason play. Xander Taylor (Elyria, Ohio/Huron HS) entered postseason play as the No. 1 seed after dominating the regular season and winning the fall Division III title.
Lukachko made one of the biggest postseason runs of the spring by defeating Michael Van Etten of Finger Lakes Community College, the top-seeded Taylor, and Walsh before advancing to the national championship match against Jeff Sosa of Salt Lake Community College.
Megan Dobos (Oberlin, Ohio/Oberlin HS) and Smith also represented the Commodores in postseason Chess competition during the spring season.
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Division I competition, Jerron Warner (Avon, Ohio/Avon HS) led the Commodores by qualifying for the NJCAAE DI postseason and earning a playoff victory over Caillou Kaneski of Lackawanna College.
Jason Thomas (Lorain, Ohio/Clearview HS) highlighted Division III singles play with a strong postseason performance that included a victory over third-seeded Alex Hoffman of Crowder College before eventually falling to Charles Hirsh of Heartland Community College.
Traceton Bell (Oberlin, Ohio/Oberlin HS) also picked up multiple Division II and Division III victories during the spring season.
As in the past, the Commodores also found success in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Crew Battles competition. Multiple LCCC lineups earned wins throughout the season before LCCC closed the Crew Battles season with a third-place national finish after defeating Walters State Community College in the postseason third-place match. The postseason roster featured Gabriel Beckstrom (Lorain, Ohio/Clearview HS), Bell, Braydon Dobos (Elyria, Ohio/Elyria HS), Christopher Gonet (Lorain, Ohio/LCCC Early College), Lukachko, and Warner.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was another area of strength for the Commodores throughout the spring. Braden Reichert (North Ridgeville, Ohio/Avon HS) consistently produced strong weekly performances and entered postseason play as the No. 3 seed in the Division III tournament. Collin Zielinski (North Olmsted, Ohio/North Olmsted HS) also contributed several strong performances during the spring season.
Across every title, the Commodores consistently competed among the top Division III programs in the NJCAAE during the Spring 2026 season, highlighted by a national runner-up finish in Valorant, multiple postseason placements, and several individual top-eight performances.