SUNY COBLESKILL ESPORTS CAPTURES FORTNITE CHAMPIONSHIPS AT ESPORTS LEAGUE FALL CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                                                                            11/19/20 

SUNY COBLESKILL ESPORTS CAPTURES FORTNITE CHAMPIONSHIPS AT 2020 ESPORTS LEAGUE FALL CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT 

Cobleskill, N.Y.: The SUNY Cobleskill ESports Team closed their 2020 SUNY ESports League Fall Season in impressive fashion by capturing the Fortnite Championship in the league’s Fall Season Championship Tournament on Wednesday evening.  

The Fighting Tiger team of senior Brycen Franek, Cobleskill, N.Y., and Jesse Hodge, Syracuse, N.Y., East Minoa High School, advanced to the tournament’s semifinals by defeating number 14 ranked SUNY New Paltz 3-0 in their first-round match then defeating number 11 ranked Nassau Community College in the second round by 3-2 decision last week.  

In the semifinals, the third ranked Fighting Tigers duo of Franek and Hodge met the second ranked SUNY Oneonta A Team of Ivan Colon and Brandon Martin. After the first two individual games the Orange & Black dropped a pair of close decisions to Oneonta to fall behind 2-0. From that point on, Franek and Hodge rallied to take a 3-2 victory over the Red Dragons once again in three closely contested contests that were decided by a hand full of points.  

In the Championship game, Cobleskill would meet the tournament’s Cinderella team the number 17 ranked SUNY Oneonta B Team of Eric Halper and Michael Ferraro which had defeated the number five ranked Niagara Community College squad by a 3-1 margin in their semifinal match. 

The Oneonta B Team opened the Championship contest by posting a pair of close decisions over the Fighting Tigers to take a 2-0 lead into a potential elimination game. However once again, Franek and Hodge rallied to take the next three contests by close scores to record a 3-2 victory to claim the tournament title. 

Fighting Tiger Head Coach Mark Crosby had nothing but praise for his team when speaking about what Franek and Hodge had accomplished. 

“They certainly made my job easy today because once things get started there is really not much, I can do for them,” said Crosby. “Last year they made it to the Sweet 16 of the tournament but felt that they could go farther. This year they developed a real feel for each other and worked hard to improve as a team. The match was exciting to watch with each game being decided by just a few points. When they fell behind 2-0, it was their focus and experience that helped them to come back and win.”    

In Tuesday’s Super Smash Bros Ultimate Championship Quarterfinal Round, Fighting Tigers junior Abraham Rodriguez, Bronx, N.Y., Food and Finance High School, the third seeded player in the field defeated the second seeded player from SUNY Stony Brook Mike Wolf-Sonkin 3-2 in a match where all games were decided by single digit point totals to advance to the semifinals. 

In the semifinals Rodriguez dropped a hard-fought decision to top seeded Gabriel Escobar from Westchester Community College by a 3-1 margin close out his season.   

According to Coach Crosby, Rodriguez distinguished himself in the tournament and could be proud of his showing in which all individual games were decided by single digits.  

“Abraham got to shine and show his skills in this tournament and throughout the season. He is a very experience player who has friends all over the world and has played in some big-time tournaments on his own. He told me that he thought he could have done much better today. It is great to know that students know that they can do better and that is what makes them shoot for higher performances the next time around. But I think he really put his all into it today and can be proud of his effort.” 

In reflecting on the Fall Tournament Coach Crosby was extremely positive about the team’s performance and the future for the Fighting Tigers program.  

“Now that we’ve got our foot in the door; I think that we are going to be able to continue to build the program in terms of students that will allow us to compete in all venues across the board, in terms of offerings. Some of our graduating players have even expressed interest in working with new players in the future in terms of scrimmaging, coaching, and practicing with them to help us grow. I believe that this can help us continue our goal of creating a full-fledged academic program that will include game management, game programing and game design.”