KENOSHA – On Sunday, April 19, Carthage Overwatch (OW) Red officially qualified for the Spring 2026 Wisconsin Esports Conference (WEC) State LAN, which will be held Saturday, May 2, at the UW-Stout Esports Arena. Additionally, regular-season action wrapped up for League of Legends (LoL), OW Red, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (SSBU) on Wednesday, April 15.
Spring 2026 WEC Week Six and Regional LAN Recap – Carthage LoL
Carthage LoL, featuring senior captain Quentin Zeller (Wolfstrike) [Mid Lane], senior Gavin Johnson (Cahara) [Top Lane], junior Christian Delgado (Bravo) [Support], sophomore Owen Johnson (OwenThePotato) [ADC/Bot Lane], sophomore Katherine Rieckmann (Firerose22) [Support], and freshman Ian Saner (Toothless) [Jungle], officially concluded its Spring 2026 WEC Regular Season on Monday, April 6.
League of Legends Game Explanation: League of Legends (LoL) is a popular 5v5 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game where two teams select champions to compete. The goal is to destroy the enemy's nexus (base) by earning gold and experience to enhance their champions. Each player chooses a unique champion with distinct abilities to help defeat minions, enemy champions, and destroy towers. Controlling these objectives allows teams to dominate the map and secure victory.
For context, the Spring 2026 WEC LoL Regular Season consisted of only six weeks, compared to other titles that featured seven weeks of competition. During their Week Six match, the Firebirds were defeated by the University of Wisconsin [UW] – Madison Badgers (4-2, 7-5), with a score of 2-0. Consequently, Carthage LoL concluded their Spring 2026 WEC Regular Season with a 2-4 Overall and 5-8 Map record. As a result, the team finished in ninth place out of eleven teams and barely missed the playoffs.
Carthage LoL has entered the offseason, and retooling its roster will become a top priority for the 2026-27 school year, as Gavin Johnson and Quentin Zeller will graduate from Carthage College on Saturday, May 23. We thank Gavin and Quentin for their excellence and tremendous contributions to Carthage Esports.
Spring 2026 WEC Week Six/Seven, and Regional LAN Recap – Carthage OW Red
Carthage OW Red, featuring junior captain Mason Stenger (zXc), junior Joy Schultz (JumpyWizard), sophomore Billy Flanagan (ChickenFries), sophomore Deacon Kirvan (FerociousPig), and sophomore Adam Hollis (Hollister09), officially concluded its Spring 2026 WEC Regular Season on Tuesday, April 14. In the Spring 2026 WEC Week Four and Five Recap, OW Red eclipsed a 5-0 record that included a 3-1 series win over the then-unbeaten UW-Stout Blue Devils.
Overwatch Game Explanation: Overwatch is a free-to-play, 5v5 team-based hero shooter where players select a unique hero with special abilities and roles (Tank, Damage, or Support) to achieve objectives across game modes such as Control, Escort, Hybrid, Push, and Flashpoint. The gameplay emphasizes team cooperation and strategic planning to succeed in a team-oriented combat environment.
In Week Six, OW Red secured a 3-0 series victory vs. the Milwaukee School of Engineering [MSOE] Raiders JV Red (4-3, 12-11), on Tuesday, April 7. However, in Week Seven, the team had to shake up its starting lineup due to an unforeseen circumstance. Against the University of Wisconsin [UW] – Whitewater Purple, Carthage OW Red struggled to gain an early advantage. Although the Firebirds forced a Map Five, the Warhawks handed them a 3-2 series loss on Tuesday, April 14.
As the Spring 2026 WEC Regular Season concluded, Carthage OW Red finished with a 6-1 Overall and 17-5 Map record. With these metrics, the Firebirds claimed second place out of 21 teams, trailing only esports rival, UW-Stout Blue Devils (6-1, 19-5). Lastly, Carthage OW Red were the best-performing Southeast team in the Spring 2026 WEC Regular Season. Due to the team's stellar performance, they secured a spot in the Southeast Regional LAN for Saturday, April 18.
To begin, Carthage OW Red competed in a round-robin format against MSOE Raiders Varsity Crimson (5-2, 16-9), MSOE Raiders JV Red (4-3, 12-11), UW-Milwaukee Varsity Black (4-3, 14-9), and UW-Milwaukee JV Gold (1-5, 1-15) on Saturday, April 18. As the dust settled, Carthage OW Red walked out with a 3-1 Overall and 6-3 Map record across the round-robin. The Firebirds' only loss came against MSOE Varsity Crimson, 2-0. On the flip side, Carthage OW Red swept UW-Milwaukee JV Gold and MSOE JV Red, while going 2-1 vs. UW-Milwaukee Varsity Black.
On Sunday, April 19, MSOE Varsity Crimson and Carthage OW Red were awarded a first-round bye for placing within the top two of their round-robin standings. After the MSOE JV and UW-Milwaukee JV Gold play-in match (3-0 MSOE JV win), the Firebirds took on UW-Milwaukee Varsity Black in a best-of-five Semifinal. Within the series, Carthage OW Red earned a 3-0 sweep; 2-0 Ilios Control win, 3-2 Circuit Royal Escort win, and 2-1 Numbani Hybrid win. Meanwhile, MSOE Varsity Crimson handled business against MSOE JV Red, winning 3-0 within a best-of-five series.
Thus, the Southeast Regional LAN Championship featured a best-of-five series between Carthage OW Red and MSOE Varsity Crimson. The series extended to all five maps.
Brief Game Mode Explanations
- Control is a game mode where teams compete to capture a point from 0% to 100% in a best-of-three format. To win the map, a team must secure two out of three points.
- Escort involves both teams alternating between moving and defending a payload objective. When attacking, the aim is to advance the payload through checkpoints within a set time. Defensively, the goal is to stop the payload's progress.
- Hybrid combines aspects of Control and Escort: attacking teams must fully capture a point to unlock the payload, then escort it.
- Flashpoint is similar to Control; however, teams try to hold three of five objectives for a shorter duration.
- Push features two teams competing to guide a robot across checkpoints. The team with the greater distance covered by the robot in 10 minutes wins.
MSOE Varsity Crimson secured Map One with a 2-0 score, as both teams competed in Nepal for the Control game mode. Subsequently, the Firebirds responded with a determined victory on Map Two in Dorado for the Escort game mode (3-1), after successfully defending against MSOE. With a 1-1 tie, both teams competed in Midtown for Map Three as Hybrid became the selected game mode. MSOE earned an extremely close 2-1 victory as they passed Carthage's total recorded payload distance of 111.84m with 111.85m.
Down 2-1, Carthage OW Red found themselves in Aatlis for the Flashpoint game mode, a combination that has proven effective for them throughout the Spring 2026 NECC and WEC Seasons. The team's excellent positioning and flanking ability awarded them a 3-0 Flashpoint victory. With the series tied 2-2, both teams played in Runasapi for the Push game mode. The Firebirds found a way to outgain MSOE in total distance to secure their Spring 2026 WEC State Championship LAN spot.
Carthage OW Red will return on Saturday, May 2, to begin its quest for a second consecutive Spring WEC Championship, dating back to May 4, 2025, when the team beat the MSOE Raiders, 4-1, inside the MSOE Esports Arena to capture the Spring 2025 WEC Overwatch Championship.
Spring 2026 WEC Week Six/Seven, and Regional LAN Recap – Carthage SSBU
Carthage SSBU, featuring Connor Grubisic (Spacefood), junior Alex Chuluunbat (ParaMedix), sophomore Shannon Pasters (MintMelee), sophomore Rylee Preston (Ender), and sophomore Samuel Bergamo (Scorp), officially concluded its Spring 2026 WEC Regular Season on Wednesday, April 15.
Smash Bros Crew Battle Explanation: Crew Battles are team competitions where two groups of players compete through a series of one-on-one matches. When a player loses, they switch with a teammate, while the winner stays in and may face a new opponent from the other team. The match continues until one team loses all its stocks. Each team consists of four players, each with three stocks, totaling 12. In a best-of-three format, this process is repeated for each set.
In Week Six, Carthage SSBU suffered a 2-0 loss vs. Beloit College (3-4, 7-8) on Wednesday, April 8. Then, in Week Seven, the Firebirds suffered another 2-0 loss. This time, it came against a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) rival, Carroll University Pioneers (3-4, 8-9). In particular, the Pioneers took Set One 4-0 as TacoNacho led the way with six knockouts. For Carthage, Chuluunbat led the Firebirds with three. In Set Two, Carroll carved out a 3-0 victory as Bitty B recorded seven knockouts across the set. Once again, Chuluunbat led the way for Carthage with four knockouts.
As the Spring 2026 WEC Regular Season concluded, Carthage SSBU finished with a 2-5 Overall and 4-10 Game record. Based on these metrics, the Firebirds placed 24th out of 27 teams. Despite the low placement, Carthage SSBU still qualified for the Southeast Regional LAN, as the Milwaukee Area Technical College [MATC] Stormers (0-3, 0-6) and Gateway Technical College Redhawks Club (0-7, 0-14) placed 26th and 27th, respectively. Only five Southeastern teams could qualify for the Regional LAN, and the Firebirds successfully qualified.
On Saturday, April 18, Carthage participated in the round-robin segment of the Spring 2026 WEC Southeast Regional LAN for Super Smash Bros. During this segment, the Firebirds competed against UW-Milwaukee Club Gold (7-0, 14-1), MSOE Varsity Red (4-3, 10-6), and Gateway Redhawks Varsity Red (3-4, 7-10). Carthage SSBU finished with a 0-3 Overall and 1-6 Game record. MSOE Varsity Red and UW-Milwaukee Gold defeated the team in all matches. Nevertheless, the Firebirds secured victory in Set One against Gateway's Varsity team in a best-of-three format, which Gateway ultimately won 2-1. Within Set One, Grubisic earned six knockouts, three more than the next closest teammate, Preston.
Finally, Carthage SSBU participated in the Day Two bracket on Sunday, April 19, following MSOE JV's decision to opt out of the Southeast Regional LAN. During Round One, the Firebirds were defeated 2-0 by the undefeated UW-Milwaukee Club Gold. In the tournament's third-place match, Carthage SSBU competed against Gateway Redhawks Varsity Red. The outcome was a 2-0 victory for Gateway, with the Redhawks securing a 2-0 win in Set One and a 3-0 win in Set Two.
Carthage SSBU has entered the offseason, and continued growth will be a top priority for the 2026-27 school year. Additionally, Connor Grubisic will be graduating from Carthage College on Saturday, May 23. We thank Connor Grubisic for his excellence and tremendous contributions to Carthage Esports.
Carthage Esports will resume WEC action on May 2 with Carthage OW Red competing at UW-Stout for the Spring 2026 WEC Overwatch State Championship LAN. Stay tuned for a recap of their performance in the near future. Additionally, stay tuned for the highly anticipated Spring 2026 NECC Championship Recap, which will highlight victories for Carthage Valorant [Varsity] and Carthage OW Red. Lastly, coverage of the 2026 NECC Nationals will be provided at a later date. Both Valorant and OW Red automatically advanced to the Nationals due to their conference titles. However, Valorant was knocked out in the Elite Eight by Lander University Academy on Tuesday, April 21.
Prior to Carthage OW Red proceeding with its Spring 2026 WEC campaign, the team will be livestreamed on Friday, May 1. Currently, the team is participating in NECC's Division III Overwatch Nationals bracket. On Friday, April 24, No. 1 Carthage OW Red defeated No. 16 Missouri State Bears, 3-1, in a Round of 16 match. For the Elite Eight round scheduled for this Friday, the Firebirds will compete against either No. 8 Oklahoma City University or No. 9 Florida Polytechnic at 5:00 p.m. CST. Should the Firebirds advance beyond the Elite Eight, their Final Four match will subsequently be streamed at 7:00 p.m. CST on Friday, May 1.
Follow @carthageesports on all socials to stay updated on content related to the Spring 2026 NECC and WEC Seasons. Follow our Twitch channel to be informed when broadcasts go live. Lastly, be on the lookout for more recaps on the Carthage Athletics – Esports page.
