Eagle esports Continues Rising: A Year of Growth

The Ashland University esports program is coming off one of its most promising seasons in recent memory.
 
This past 2024-25 season was spotlighted by unexpected teams shining, championship runs, and many farewells to graduating seniors that laid down a standard of success. Under the guidance of second year head coach P.J. Fiscus, the Esports program looks to take an even bigger step forward in the coming year.
 
Counter-Strike 2's National Run

The Eagles' Counter-Strike 2 squad cemented itself as the program's top team this past season. The team was able to finish top eight nationally in the fall, followed by a top-16 finish in the spring. Both of these were program-best results.
 
"Seth Ho played a massive part in this success, and with a new signing for the upcoming season watch out for the Eagles possibly taking a National title," said Fiscus.

Ho has been with the team for many seasons, helping to bring a new standard to the team that focuses on an abundance of practice and heavy commitment.
 
Fortunately, the team will have a promising newcomer to try and fill the newfound void that Ho left. That newcomer is Sam "sml" Oliveira. He is a native of Portugal, coming to the program with a plethora of experience playing Counter-Strike 2. Fiscus believes that Oliveira can help push the Eagles closer to a national title.
 
"I expect Oliveira to contend with top four teams," he said.
 
Top Teams Beginning To Rise
 
Three teams stood out for their progress over the past year: Rocket League, Super Smash Bros, and Call of Duty.
 
After a difficult fall marked by roster turnover, the Eagles were able to get a huge help from freshman Liam Goodhart.
 
"With roster troubles plaguing the since the start of the Fall season, they found a glimmer of hope with Liam," Fiscus said. "He helped the boys overcome their past struggles, against all odds, securing third in their MEC performance."
 
Heading into the upcoming fall campaign, Goodhart will look to pair with senior Mason Foley to form a strong duo for the team.
 
Another team like Rocket League is Super Smash Bros, who, despite internal challenges and roster moves, remained focused on improvement.
 
"Despite their lackluster finish in both NACE and MEC, it was clear everyone on that team has incredible passion to improve," Fiscus said.
 
A high-volume of practices seems to be a common occurrence for almost all of the teams. Call of Duty, who practices nearly every day, found itself fielding two full varsity squads for the first time. The main roster added Jonathan Mims from the junior varsity squad, immediately helping grow the team culture and chemistry.
 
The Call of Duty team was able to close the year with a top-16 finish in NACE, a map win against Division I Akron University and make a deep run in the CCL playoffs.
 
"With the main team finishing top 16 in NACE both seasons and taking a map off of Akron, who is ranked top three or four nationally," Fiscus said, "they also had a deep run in the CCL playoffs. I am very happy with how they performed."
 
New Titles Join The Program's Ever-Growing List
 
Fiscus and the esports program announced three new game titles would be added as teams in the spring. After garnering interest, Mario Kart, Rainbow Six Siege, and Marvel Rivals all were officially added to the lineup in spring 2025.
 
"Mario Kart had been requested for years, with most of our Smash Bros junior varsity roster requesting it, and saw two new faces to the program help for their first season in the Collegiate Karting League," Fiscus said.
 
The Karting squad tied for first in the Collegiate Karting League regular season, before reaching the semifinals round of the playoffs where they fell to the eventual champions.
 
In Rainbow Six Siege, captain Nolan Kern, a high-level ranked console player, led the team to a strong initial semester debut where they qualified for the Playfly playoffs.
 
"Rainbow Six Siege was started because there was a lot of talent in the program in this game," Fiscus said. "Especially from their captain Nolan Kern, who achieved the highest rank in the game multiple times on console and was a breakout player even among the best teams."
 
Marvel Rivals was the last title to gain a team after the release of the game in December 2024. While it is a relatively new game, lots of members from other teams decided to switch over and join the new squad.
 
"Marvel Rivals was started to see the engagement in the game around the program," said Fiscus. "There was only a small league for the spring season, but it saw many different players in the program get together and put a roster forth."
 
A Strong Farewell
 
With a program of more than 50 student-athletes, Fiscus had to say farewell to many graduating seniors this spring. He honored each one with kind words about their contributions:

• Dominic Cole (Super Smash Bros) - "He was the backbone of Smash Bros at Ashland, and has a seriously good understanding of the game and helped mentor every single person on that team."
• Hunter Shuck (Super Smash Bros) - "He is probably the most dedicated player I've ever seen in both esports and traditional sports."
• Josh Hagen (Super Smash Bros) - "He was only here one semester, but left his mark as an upstanding player."
• Caleb Dilling (Overwatch, Marvel Rivals) - "Caleb was a central part in our Overwatch team's great history and a starter on our first ever Marvel Rivals roster."
• Keaton Sundberg (Overwatch, Counter-Strike 2) - "He is a master at almost any FPS title he picks up starting as the foundation of Overwatch and eventually Counter-Strike 2."
• Sam Abbott (Call of Duty) - "He had one of the best personalities in the program and was dedicated to his team/friends."
• Chuck Malberti (Call of Duty) - "He stepped up in the fall season to compete with CoD's main team and also one of the best personalities here."
• Connor Milne (Call of Duty) - "Everyone looked up to Connor. He is now going to be our CoD head coach."
• Jayden Strickland (Call of Duty, Fortnite) - "He helped with CoD at his start and ended with our longest running Fortnite team."

Fiscus believes that without each of these graduating seniors, the team would be nowhere near where it is now.
 
Pushing Towards The Future
 
As the fall slowly approaches, the Eagles are bringing in new recruits across several titles. Counter-Strike 2 will welcome Oliveira, Rocket League will add Tyler "Tater" Tappin, a former teammate of Fiscus, and Call of Duty will bring in "Shady", a fast-paced standout talent.
 
While these are just a few recruits, the team expects to continue to bring in many walk-ons to the program in the fall.
 
This summer, Fiscus wants his team to be mindful of the mental toll competitive gaming can take.
 
"Since I've gone through heavy burnout myself as a player, I know the importance of keeping your passion for the game you play over the summer," Fiscus said. "I am not too overbearing on anyone and just check in to see how everyone is using their time and keeping up with their weekly play."
 
The ultimate goal for AU's esports team is to earn national recognition as a high-performance collegiate program.
 
"I am so excited for what's to come for the program, and I really hope we can start being recognized nationally as well as just across campus," Fiscus said.
 
With a loaded recruitment class, improved finishes and sharp increase in competitiveness, the esports program is continuing to be a rising force.