Esports 2/19/2025 11:30:00 PM

No. 10 Blinn Overwatch sweeps St. Louis to open NJCAAe season

The Buccaneers face top-ranked Illinois State on Feb. 25

Esports 2/19/2025 11:30:00 PM

No. 10 Blinn Overwatch sweeps St. Louis to open NJCAAe season

The Buccaneers face top-ranked Illinois State on Feb. 25

The Blinn College esports Overwatch team swept St. Louis Community College 3-0 in a best-of-five NJCAA Esports (NJCAAe) match Wednesday.

The Buccaneers, ranked 10th by the Overwatch Collegiate Rankings Association, are now 1-0 to begin their NJCAAe season.

Joseph Mares, Haluk Tanriseven, Matthew Hutchings, Dylan Payne, and Dhruv Pandrangi earned the win for Blinn.

Overwatch is a team-based, first-person-shooter in which players select heroes with unique abilities and work together to complete objectives across multiple map modes.

Each team can strategically choose its maps based on team strengths and opponent weaknesses.

Each round Wednesday included a different win condition based on the following modes:

Control: Teams fight to capture and hold a single point. The first team to reach 100% control wins two rounds in a best-of-three format, where the loser of each round picks the next map.
Escort: The attacking team moves a payload to its destination while defenders try to stop them. The payload moves when attackers are near it, and the attackers aim to complete the route before time runs out.
Hybrid: Teams capture a point and then escort a payload. The match is typically one round for attackers, who must secure the point first before moving the payload.
Push: Teams battle to control a robot and push it toward the opponent's side. The first team to push it farther than their opponents wins, with the loser picking the next map.
Clash: Teams capture consecutive points, with the first team to a set number of points winning.

The Bucs picked up wins in the Control, Hybrid, and Escort modes.

"Tonight, we set the tone for what we expect to be another dominant run this spring," said Blinn head coach and Overwatch manager Kyle Murto. "Our team came out sharp in the Control round before showcasing disciplined play in Hybrid and Escort. This was the level of play we've come to expect from ourselves in NJCAAe, and we're looking forward to continuing this momentum going forward as we hope to make another run at a national championship."

Blinn Overwatch continues its season with an NJCAAe match against No. 1 Illinois State University at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 25.

Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 50 NJCAA national championships since 1987.

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Players Mentioned

Haluk Tanriseven: Sophomore; Overwatch

Dhruv Pandrangi: Sophomore; Overwatch

Matthew Hutchings: Sophomore; Overwatch

Joseph Mares: Freshman; Overwatch

Players Mentioned

Haluk Tanriseven
: Sophomore; Overwatch

Dhruv Pandrangi
: Sophomore; Overwatch

Matthew Hutchings
: Sophomore; Overwatch

Joseph Mares
: Freshman; Overwatch