Esports 4/29/2025 11:53:00 PM

Blinn Overwatch finishes in top six at NACE Grand Finals

Buccaneers head coach Kyle Murto was named the NACE Overwatch Coach of the Year

Esports 4/29/2025 11:53:00 PM

Blinn Overwatch finishes in top six at NACE Grand Finals

Buccaneers head coach Kyle Murto was named the NACE Overwatch Coach of the Year

The 17th-ranked Blinn College esports Overwatch team competed in the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) Grand Finals on Saturday and placed inside the top six teams with a 1-2 record.

Blinn head coach and Overwatch manager Kyle Murto was named the NACE Overwatch Coach of the Year, while sophomore competitor Donnivan Straight was named a NACE second-team all star.

Kyle Murto 2023-24

(Pictured: Blinn head coach Kyle Murto, left, and sophomore Donnivan Straight)

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 Saturday 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' team of Straight, Joseph Mares, Haluk Tanriseven, Matthew Hutchings, and Dhruv Pandrangi opened the eight-team competition with a 3-1, best-of-five loss to No. 8 St. Clair University in group play.

In its second match of the day, Blinn rebounded with a 3-1-1 victory over 12th-ranked University of Texas-Dallas. The Bucs' tournament run concluded with a 3-0 loss to St. Clair.

"We put on one of the best performances we've had all semester, and I couldn't be prouder of how we fought from start to finish," Murto said. "We may not have finished where we wanted, but we defied expectations and knocked out a good UT-Dallas team, which shows we're on the right path. This weekend proved that our level is there, the biggest difference between us and the top programs right now is purely composure and nerves under pressure."

Straight was recognized for his efforts as Blinn's Flex Damage Per Second (DPS). The second-year Buc has been an anchor during two successful years of Blinn Overwatch.

"This award honestly means a lot to me," Straight said. "I have been putting in a lot of work between school and Overwatch, and I'm just happy to see it all paying off."

Murto is in his first semester as the Bucs' head coach, but served as an assistant and the Overwatch manager since the program's launch in the fall of 2020. Murto was a finalist for the NACE Overwatch Coach of the Year award at the end of the spring 2024 season.

"This honor means everything to me," Murto said. "I have put in so much work over the past several years, and to be recognized on a national level as the best coach for Overwatch is something I cannot put into words."

Blinn Overwatch will compete in one more tournament to round out its season. The Bucs travel to Dallas for the Collegiate Esports Commissioners Cup beginning Thursday, May 1.

Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 53 national championships since 1987.

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