Wittenberg Esports Makes Big Strides in Second Year
Wittenberg has a long history of excellence in academics and athletics, so it should come as no surprise that the University’s esports program made its mark in just its second season.
Introduced in 2023 and competing for the first time in the 2024-25 school year, Wittenberg esports has helped usher in a new era of student engagement. Wittenberg students now have access to competitive gaming across several esports titles as an integral part of campus life.
For the 2025-26 season, Wittenberg’s Rocket League team compiled a 9-4 overall record in the regular season while competing in the newly formed Rust Belt Conference (RBC) of the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE). The Tigers finished second in the RBC fall season and third in the RBC spring season while qualifying for the league’s national championship tournament for the first time in program history. Wittenberg, which was ranked 22nd nationally in the fall and 27th in the spring, was knocked out of the tournament by No. 11 Shawnee State University in the fall and No. 6 seed St. Clair College in the spring.
Wittenberg’s Siege team finished the fall season 5-1 in the Midwest Rainbow 6 (MWR6) League and the Tigers were the No. 1 seed in their division heading into the playoffs. After beating SIU-Edwardsville in the first round of Stage 1, the Tigers were beaten by Buena Vista in the Round of 8.
In Stage 2, the Siege team moved up to a higher division (four in the fall and three in the spring) and posted a regular season record of 2-5. In the playoffs, Wittenberg defeated the University of Iowa on the national broadcasting before falling to Missouri S&T in the second round.
Wittenberg’s Valorant team struggled in the 2025-26 season after losing nearly 80% of its starters and finished 1-5 overall in the fall season. The Tigers lost 2-0 to Mount St. Joseph in the first round of the division playoffs.
Director of Esports Ryan Brown said he added an Overwatch team for the spring season. The Tigers went 3-1 in a round robin regular season to finish in a three-way tie for first place in their division. Wittenberg advanced to the playoff semifinals before losing to Rollins College, the eventual champion.
“I think a lot of the team’s success this year stems from our philosophy of ‘we just need one more’,” Brown said. “One of the biggest struggles that I have seen with esports is that players spend too much time thinking ahead instead of focusing on what is happening now. I believe that in traditional athletics, it is much easier to focus on what you are physically doing in the moment, instead of worrying about preparing yourself mentally for all the possibilities for what will happen later in the game.
“With the physical demands being much smaller in esports, the mental demands are exponentially more important. This causes players to think more about events in the future rather than focusing on what they need to be doing right now in the moment to secure this round or this goal. I really tried to focus this season on grounding the players in the moment and am consistently calling out, ‘just give me one more [round, goal, etc.],’ and I feel like this change in mindset has really helped ground the players in the moment and has allowed them to capitalize during some really pivotal moments in the game.”
Wittenberg’s Valorant and Rocket League teams were also invited to the River City Invitational in November 2025 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Tigers competed in a venue that included thousands of spectators.
Introducing esports to Wittenberg’s campus has provided students with a new competitive program, and the sport has grown in popularity, spurring Brown to help form the RBC. He served as the director of operations for the league, and a colleague from Ohio Wesleyan served as commissioner. Competing within the NACE, the RBC is comprised of small private Division III and NAIA institutions from the Midwest, including Wittenberg, Ohio Wesleyan, Baldwin Wallace, Cedarville, Cleary, Governors State, Huntington, Kettering, Lawrence Tech, Mary Washington, Messiah, Mount St. Joseph, Otterbein, and St. Xavier.
The RBC is now in the process of a rebrand and expansion to add other teams along the East Coast and as far south as Florida.
Based in the Benham-Pence Student Center, Wittenberg had 24 players on the roster for the 2025-26 season. Casey "cymr." Meltzer (Cleveland, OH / St. Ignatius) served as the Rocket League captain, Wyatt "Polings21" Poling (Batavia, OH / Batavia) was the Rainbow 6 captain in the fall and Dawson “Meatstick” Smith (Grove City, OH / Grove City) was the Rainbow 6 captain in the spring, Mitchell "mst5997" Tope (Dublin, OH / Hilliard Davidson) was the Valorant captain, and Luke “Nukity” Stout (Circleville, OH / Circleville) was the Overwatch captain.
In addition to the competitive opportunities, some Wittenberg team members participated in an experiential learning trip during Spring Break 2026. Brown led a group at the Gamers For Giving LAN event at Eastern Michigan University, where Wittenberg students helped raised more than $1.9 million for the Gamers Outreach Foundation. Gamers Outreach makes carts with video game consoles on them that they donate to hospitals to help children deal with the stresses of long-term treatment. Brown, who will be coaching at Florida Tech next year, said he hopes that this will be a recurring event for students to join in future years.
Written By: Cindy Holbrook