Esports: National Championship Hat Trick Denied

The Central Community College esports team's quest for a national championship hat trick came up short. The Raiders Call of Duty: 2v2 Warzone lost to Laramie County (Wyo.) Community College, 3-1, on Friday. CCC esports had won two national championships earlier in the week and were hoping for a third.

The showdown was a rematch between the Raiders and the Golden Eagles from earlier in the season, which was won by CCC. The Raiders had a solid lead throughout the first game, but an unfortunate team fight resulted in both players, Jackson Peabody and Ayden Veik, being eliminated. That allowed LCCC to catch up and eventually take the lead and secure a 17-11 win. The second game was very quick as CCC went down, 5-4, and the Golden Eagles were up, 2-0.

The third game began as a back-and-forth battle, but eventually, Laramie County fell behind on a kill disadvantage. Still, the Golden Eagles had an opportunity to catch up, but the effort fell short and CCC logged its first win of the match, 5-3. However, LCCC took advantage in the fourth game when both Peabody and Veik were again eliminated, giving the Golden Eagles the 14-4 win and the national championship.

CCC head coach Lucas Lumbra was quite pleased with his team's performance during the national championship games and for the road that led to the titles.

"This has been a culmination of hard work for many of these young athletes," Lumbra said. "We started out two years ago with a young team that had immense amounts of potential. Knowing all along that the sky was the limit, we demonstrated exactly how good we know we could be."