The Barton Community College esports team of freshmen put together a near flawless performance Saturday in capturing the Fall Guys Collegiate Knockout championship to cap off another strong week of competition.
The lone NJCAA team in the IBUYPOWER sponsored invitational field, the Cougars led throughout to take the $3,000 top prize over fellow competitors California State University Northridge, DePaul University, and the University of Mississippi.
Barton finished with 130 points with the other three teams tying for second with 91 points. In the tiebreaking round, DePaul came out on top to take the $1500 second place prize as Mississippi grabbed the third place $500 prize with CSUN finishing on the outside.
Competing for the Cougars were Davon Morris, Adam Hardin, Trent Keffer, and Jared McFadden in navigating three gameshows of the Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout as the freshmen laded team competed against the trio of four-year teams with each rostering four players each.
"These guys are amazing," said Head Coach Curtis Rose. "The work they've put in this past week shows the dedication they have. We weren't settling for the 4th place finish from last week."
Getting all four players through each of the four rounds in game one, Barton jumped out on top over Mississippi by nine points.
In game two, the Cougars had a couple of narrow escapes proving pivotal. In round two, Barton needed a late kick to escape the team game Hoarders while in round three a team effort help get Keffer through the qualifying in Rings.
"All week, we worked on consistency, teamwork, and communication," remarked Rose. "All of which were on full display."
Although not claiming a crown win through the first two gameshows, Barton again got all four teammates through the rounds to post another 40 points on the board to lead by thirteen over CSUN.
The Cougars continued their march to the title in round one of the final gameshow, getting all four individuals through the course. Faced with a tricky and sometimes tough Jinx team game in round two, Barton pulled through to build a commanding lead instead of making things a little dicier the rest of the competition. Conquering the third and fourth round to widen the margin, the luck of the draw dealt Barton an unfamiliar team challenge in Royal Fumble but it did little to phase the Cougars on the way to putting an emphatic end to the competition claiming the crown.
With all but Morris participating in the Barton Arena, the crew had no idea of their standing throughout the rounds until the announcement came sparking a boisterous celebration.
"I say it every week, but I know that the teams we've assembled here at Barton can take on anyone," concluded Rose.
In normally scheduled competition this past week, Barton's 20th ranked Rocket League team had another strong performance in defeating Crowder College 4-1. The Cougars lost game one 3-1 but took the next four by a combined 15-3 margin including a 5-0 blanking in the last game of the series.
In Madden matchups, only two of the four matchups were played due to EA Sports' server having technical difficulties. Morris, the nation's top ranked player, received a forfeit win due to the opponent choosing not to take the field. Anthony Twiggs took his second straight week of defeats as the 17th ranked player lost both of his games against 14th ranked Hinds Community College. Corey Hale (#25) and Brayden Clare (#31) had their matches postponed until Monday, October 26th.
Elijah Payne put together his second straight big week of Fortnite, scoring nineteen points with a first place finish and four eliminations to finish third overall. Keffer and Hardin each scored a point and had an elimination.
Barton picked up a couple of victories in Super Smash Brothers, 32nd ranked Landon Robl taking care of his Crowder College opponent 4-1 with 179th ranked Bryce Boltman getting the forfeit due to a no show from his Garden City Community College opponent.
The schedule continues in the upcoming week with the rescheduled Madden games added to the regular slate of games.
Final Fall Guys Collegiate Knockout results
1 - Barton Community College (130 points)
2 - DePaul University (93 points)
3 - University of Mississippi (92 points)
4 - California State University Northridge (91 points)