The Falcons are officially back in action for our second year of varsity esports competition! As we wait for national and regional league play to start, UWRF Esports is warming up rosters in some of the best tournaments the Midwest has to offer for Smash and a special Red Bull event for Valorant.
UWRF's championship NACE Smash Ultimate roster and globally ranked Smash Melee players made their 2024 debut at the 2nd annual Cream City Convergence tournament in downtown Milwaukee on August 24th. All three Melee members secured top-20 finishes with Anthony "Preeminent" Braun finishing seventh with an impressive 4-2 record. Teammates Caleb "Royal" Royal and Lamont "Lamonster" Santo placed 17th and 13th respectively.
On the Ultimate side of the tournament, Riley "Nanukka" Bresette earned his first top-25 finish of the year by going 4-2 and improving upon 49th place 2023 finish. Team Captain Dom "Daxe" Schafer also jumped up 30 places to finish 65th, and sophomore Christian "j" Farnsworth turned out a 33rd place finish in his first Cream City Convergence.
In Valorant action, the Falcons kicked off their season in the Red Bull Home Ground NA Open Qualifier featuring 128 of the top teams in North America. It was the team's first match with radiant player William "Yum07" Huelma. Despite the 0-2 loss, Huelma teamed up with Morgan "Muggzie" Lee to make an immediate impact on the map netting a combined 31 eliminations on Sunset in game one. In game two, Wesley "yelsew" Daniel led the Falcons with a 1.2 KDA after a quiet first game. UWRF Valorant is gearing up for the inaugural season of the Wisconsin Esports Conference (WEC) and their first official matches against the best in Wisconsin later this month.
In their last major tournament before league play, the Falcons will compete this weekend at Riptide 2024 in Sandusky, OH. One of the largest annual esports tournaments in the country, UWRF made a statement last year with Ben "Ben" Strandmark taking fifth place in Smash Melee out of the 477 entries consisting of some of the best professional and amateur players on the continent. Strandmark and Braun are both eyeing top-10 finishes in Melee Singles and Doubles while Bresette is set on closing out his Riptide career with a top-128 finish in Ultimate Singles.
Stay tuned to @uwrfesports on Facebook, Instagram, and X for live updates on results and live streams!
