KENOSHA, Wis. — After an incredible 2025-26 competitive year, Carthage Esports and its student-athletes return to rekindle enthusiasm as the program enters its fifth competitive year. As the lights in the Esports Arena are switched on and the PC stations churn graphical shaders, it means one thing: The Fall 2026 WEC season starts tonight.
Fall 2026 WEC Season Details
Starting tonight, Carthage Esports will compete in the Fall 2026 Wisconsin Esports Conference (WEC) season across multiple video game titles, including Marvel Rivals and Rocket League. Rocket League will begin Monday, Sept. 14, followed by Marvel Rivals on Wednesday, Sept. 16. Throughout the regular season, all matches for these video game titles will take place on their designated weekdays at 6 p.m. CST, unless there are approved reschedules. Additionally, these matches will not be regularly streamed by Carthage Esports, as National Esports Collegiate Conference (NECC) matches take priority.
Other important dates to keep in mind regarding the Fall 2026 WEC season include Regional LANs on Saturday, Nov. 14, and Sunday, Nov. 15; Play-In Tournaments for the Championship LAN from Monday, Nov. 16, through Friday, Nov. 20; Regular Season Awards on Friday, Dec. 4; and the Championship LAN on Saturday, Dec. 5, and Sunday, Dec. 6.
According to the WEC's Fall 2026 Overview, quality-of-life changes are coming to its competitive structure. Perhaps the most notable change will come during the regular season.
A Swiss format will be applied, "which allows matchups to adjust week-to-week based on current standings. As the season progresses, teams will increasingly face opponents with similar records, creating more competitive and meaningful regular season matches" (WEC Communications).
The Swiss format for regular-season scheduling, although it did not debut in Fall 2026, was tested in Spring 2026 and received positive feedback. As the WEC has articulated, the objective is to consistently organize competitive matches throughout the regular season to ensure the event remains engaging and innovative, benefiting both players and spectators alike.
Next, the WEC vows to "roll out weekly storyline updates to keep the community engaged from opening week through the postseason. These updates will spotlight movement in the standings, standout player performances where data is available, and the rivalries and narratives taking shape across the league" (WEC Communications).
As the Carthage Esports program has done for its matches across the NECC, WEC and other regional leagues, the WEC aims to tell the stories behind its Fall 2026 season to further grow esports in Wisconsin.
The WEC ends its note by stating, "Beyond the scores, this is about continuing to build the storylines and culture that make each WEC season worth following" (WEC Communications). These recent insights into the Fall 2026 season highlight the WEC's openness to community feedback and its strategy for telling its stories through a multimedia approach.
Carthage Esports' Fall 2026 WEC Team Previews
As previously stated, the Firebirds will take part in Marvel Rivals and Rocket League. For these team previews, we will highlight each team in order based on its competitive game day.
Rocket League Red — Off-stream Mondays — Starting Sept. 14
First is Carthage Rocket League (RL) Red, a sophomore trio of
Kyle Branski (xray),
Owen Perry (Kor) and
Jimmy Prims (ItsSlurp17, aka ThePrimReaper).
Rocket League is a free-to-play vehicular soccer video game developed by Psyonix and owned by Epic Games, the developer behind Fortnite. Often described as "soccer with rocket-powered cars," players use acrobatic vehicles to hit a giant ball into the opposing team's net within a strict five-minute time limit.
In the 2025-26 competitive year, Branski and Perry were on RL Red alongside then-senior
Alex Vaile and achieved tremendous success. In Fall 2025 WEC, RL Red finished with a 5-1 overall record and a 17-8 game record. Next, Branski, Perry and Vaile won the Southeast Regional LAN title on their home turf against Carthage RL Black on Nov. 16, 2025. Subsequently, RL Red defeated Waukesha County Technical College (WCTC) Owls Blue, 4-2, to claim the State Championship at UW-Stout's Esports Arena on Dec. 7, 2025.
For Prims, he teamed with then-senior
TJ Buchmann (Blasecupid) and then-sophomore
Kaliek Wade (Akko) on RL White. Buchmann graduated from Carthage College this past May. He is one of the most decorated and influential players in our program's history. We appreciate his dedicated efforts to improve the team and leave a positive legacy. We wish him the best of luck with everything going forward.
Throughout Fall 2025, the tandem had the passion to make each series competitive, no matter how much of an underdog they were perceived to be. In regular-season action, RL White finished 7-0 overall with a 21-0 game record, securing first place in the standings. At the Southeast Regional LAN, Buchmann, Prims and Wade scratched and clawed their way to a third-place finish with a 4-1 victory against Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) Black on Nov. 16, 2025. In essence, every Carthage RL team secured the top three spots at this Regional LAN.
Since they did not win, RL White competed in an LCQ and won 4-3 against UW-Superior after an insane comeback that included a game-winning overtime goal by Wade in Game Six and a commanding 4-1 win in Game Seven. In the Championship Group Stage, RL White finished 1-3 overall with a 4-10 game record, beating UW-Whitewater Gray on Dec. 6, 2025. A top-four finish in the Group A Stage advanced Buchmann, Prims and Wade to a Championship Bracket Play-In match against UW-Green Bay on Dec. 7, 2025. There, they won 3-0 but were swept 4-0 in the Championship Bracket by WCTC Owls Blue. Although they did not secure a title, Prims was thrilled to achieve a top-three Regional and a top-five State finish.
"I'm excited to get back into the swing of things. Personally, it doesn't matter who my teammates are. I'm here to be professional, have some fun, and win some LANs. In all seriousness, Perry and Prims are amazing. We've been friends for a year now; Perry and I a bit longer. It's definitely hard to follow up on last year's success, as there was a special spark with that team where we all clicked and everything worked out perfectly. However, we will certainly do our best to be just as competitive not only for Carthage but also for ourselves."
— Branski on what excites him about playing alongside Perry and Prims, as well as how far he believes this iteration of Carthage RL Red can go
Heading into the Fall 2026 WEC season, Carthage RL Red will have to fill the shoes of one of its most decorated players in program history,
Alex Vaile. However, the talent on this team will uphold the standard he leaves behind as a graduate. Branski, Perry and Prims aim to achieve significant success as a team for the first time — an intriguing narrative to follow as the season unfolds.
Rocket League Black — Off-stream Mondays — Starting Sept. 14
Up next is Carthage RL Black, consisting of the senior duo of
Penn Gilchrist (Pixlr) and
Lucas Menzer (Joystik), alongside junior
Kaliek Wade (Akko).
In the 2025-26 competitive year, Gilchrist and Menzer teamed up with then-senior
Tanner Lee (Flare) on RL Black. During the Fall 2025 WEC regular season, RL Black ended with a 4-2 overall record, a 15-11 game record and finished 12th in the standings. Heading into the Southeast Regional LAN, Gilchrist, Lee and Menzer finished second after a 4-0 loss to RL Red in the grand final on Nov. 16, 2025. Like RL White, RL Black competed in an LCQ. Instead of a comeback win, RL Black decimated Lakeland University, 4-0, with Lakeland conceding only a single goal across the entire series.
As a result, RL Black advanced to the Championship Group B Stage on Dec. 6, 2025. The result was a 3-1 overall record and a 12-1 game record, with the only loss coming against WCTC Owls Blue, 3-0. Because they finished second in Group B, Gilchrist, Lee and Menzer were awarded the No. 4 seed in the Championship Bracket. However, the run became short-lived as they lost 4-1 against the UW-Stout Blue Devils on Dec. 7, 2025. Despite the early exit, the team was grateful for a top-two Regional and top-seven State finish.
Lastly, Wade teamed with then-senior Buchmann and then-freshman Prims on RL White, as discussed in RL Red's preview section. Wade brings a competitive desire to this new iteration of RL Black as Lee graduated in May. Much like Vaile, Lee leaves behind a tremendous legacy within Carthage Esports, as he is one of the most decorated players in our program's history.
As the Fall 2026 WEC season approaches, it will be fascinating to see Gilchrist, Menzer and Wade as a trio, since they have grown comfortable with each other's play styles through past team iterations and scrimmages.
Across both RL teams, we are excited to see how coach Timmy Connors leads both trios to great success. Connors has been with Carthage Esports since the 2025-26 competitive year.
Lastly, we are internally grateful for the dedication that Buchmann, Lee and Vaile have put into Carthage Esports. This trio of graduates will be missed, and we wish them the best of luck going forward.
Marvel Rivals — Off-stream Wednesdays — Starting Sept. 16
Following RL Red and Black, we have the Marvel Rivals team, which includes senior
Ethan Anderson (Snowstorm); junior
Adam Hollis (Hollister09); sophomores
Hayden Echevarria (Hazzick),
Alek Miech (Stewie) and
Jena Pillman (Jenny); and freshmen Jacob Cooper (Void), Jonathan Jasek (JJpower), Matthew Santiago (Lumen), Michael Santiago (Vader), Emma Westbrook (NekroKatze) and Anna Westbrook (BambeeBirdie).
Marvel Rivals is a free-to-play, third-person, 6v6 team-oriented hero shooter developed by NetEase Games and Marvel Games. Players select renowned Marvel heroes and villains to engage in fast-paced, dynamic matches.
According to the WEC Rulebook, Marvel Rivals matches are standard 6v6 competitions played on Dallas servers under the latest patch, featuring invitation-only join settings, leader-only hero bans and open spectator access if both teams approve. Before hero selection, each team locks in two hero bans using Tournament Mode, which apply to both teams for that map. The map pool consists of three modes: Convoy, Convergence and Domination across 14 distinct maps.
Convoy is an escort mode in which one team pushes a payload cart along a designated path to reach a final point. The opposing team must defend the route and prevent the cart from moving forward before time expires. Convergence is a hybrid mode that mixes elements of Domination and Convoy. Teams initially fight to seize a control point, which then unlocks a payload cart that the attackers must escort through the map.
Finally, Domination is a classic King-of-the-Hill mode in which two teams fight to control and hold a central point on the map. The first team to fill its progress bar to 100% wins the round, and matches are played as best-of-three.
In a best-of-five match, the map-drafting process begins with LeagueOS selecting the home team. The home team then chooses to be either Team A or Team B. Each team bans one Domination map, and Team A picks the first map. For subsequent games, the loser of each map chooses the next one, following this order: Convergence for Map Two, Convoy for Map Three, Domination for Map Four and Convergence again for Map Five. After each map, the winner of that map selects its side, and no map is repeated during the series.
Carthage Esports is thrilled to welcome Marvel Rivals into our family of video game titles for the Fall 2026 WEC season.
Carthage Esports is currently in season with WEC competition and will resume regularly scheduled livestreams starting Tuesday, Sept. 29, to kick off the Fall 2026 NECC season and the 2026-27 competitive year. We extend our gratitude to those who consistently support the Carthage Esports program.
Follow @carthageesports on all social media platforms to stay updated on content involving the upcoming Fall 2026 and Spring 2027 seasons. Follow our Twitch channel to be notified when broadcasts go live. Lastly, be on the lookout for recaps on the Carthage Athletics – Esports page once the Fall 2026 season begins.
