Northwood Esports boasts historic individual wins, international top 5 wins, and national titles in 2024, with 2025 shaping up to be another monumental year.
Northwood University’s Esports Program has seen another successful semester. With individual and team wins, Northwood Esports once again is on track to dominate the collegiate esports scene.
Northwood Esports team members have seen success across several games. Jessie “JeJaJeJa” Valdez-Vallejo made Smash Bros. history with a tournament win at Ring-out by using his signature character Kirby. It was the first time a player had used Kirby at this competitive level and gone on to use the character to win a tournament of this tier or higher across all games in the Super Smash Brothers Franchise.
Christopher “Cjay” Smith qualified for the Overwatch Championship Series (OWCS) Finals in Stockholm Sweden with professional team NTMR, with the team placing in the top 5.
Sun-Woo “Cozy” Jung qualified for the North American Challengers League (NACL) 2025 Season (League of Legends Minor League Equivalent) with Area of Effect Esports.
Team members Micheal “Dark3st” Herrera, Braden “Dip” Dippel, Hunter “Furbsa” McMillan, Benjamin “ripbenji” Park, and Joseph “Coach Joe” Breuer qualified for the North American Valorant Challengers League (Valorant Minor League Equivalent) Playoffs, playing and coaching for Supply and Demand esports.
Northwood Esports has also seen incredible team wins across the board, including:
• Varsity Smash Bros Team won the National Esports Collegiate Conference (NSCC) Great Lakes Region Championship, defeating 16 teams.
• Varsity Rocket League team also saw an NECC Division 1 win at the Fall National Championship, as well as the Playfly National Championship.
• Northwood Esports Varsity Valorant and Counter-Strike teams also claimed victories in the Playfly Fall National Championship for their respective games.
Looking ahead to 2025, Northwood Esports shows no signs of slowing down. At this time, Northwood is confirmed to play in four series — Saints Gauntlet Series, Collegiate Esports Commissioners Cup Arlington 2025, College Valorant Starts, and College League of Legends Starts.
Northwood is headed to the Saints Gauntlet Series, Hosted By St. Clair College after last year’s win at the Saints x Colleague Collegiate Rocket League Invitational. Based in Ontario, Canada, this series has expanded from a single tournament into a well-respected series. Throughout the semester, Northwood Esports will travel to Ontario to compete in the Valorant, Rocket League, League of Legends, Overwatch, and Smash Bros. Ultimate series.
Additionally, in May 2025, Northwood Esports will attend the Collegiate Esports Commissioners Cup (CECC) in Arlington, Texas. This tournament is considered one of the major collegiate esports Local Area Network (LAN), as every top collegiate esports title will be featured at the tournament.
Northwood Esports will also attend the Riot Games College Valorant (CVAL) and College League of Legends (CLOL) tournaments. After eight weeks of the regular season that started in the fall semester, followed by playoffs in the spring, Northwood University looks to claim championships in both titles.
Northwood Esports rosters will also see a shake-up as a new team is added for the rising game, Deadlock. This new team performed well in both College Deadlock pre-season show match tournaments, showing they can be a force in the collegiate Deadlock scene come spring.
