Beyond Legendary: The Unrivaled Saga of MCC Overwatch

MARSHALLTOWN – History was made on Wednesday, April 23rd, as Marshalltown Community College's Overwatch 2 team completed a potentially unrepeatable feat. The roster, consisting of Ryan Goulding (C), Ethan McGerr, Nathan Jorgensen, Lijah Powell, and Paul Novotny finished with a two season record of 21-2 (63-7 in maps).  McGerr, Jorgensen, and Powell will finish their careers with a record of 43-3.  Their journey as a team, and as individuals, has been nothing short of extraordinary.  

When the Fall '23 season began, the idea of a national championship seemed like a longshot.  The MCC Overwatch team had two returning members, Ryne Sinn and Ethan Hassin – and three fresh faces.  McGerr, a local standout from Marshalltown High School, Jorgensen, a reverse transfer from the University of Northern Iowa, and Powell, a walk-on from Keosauqua who played on controller (an uncommon practice for college Overwatch players). 

Esports competes in both a Fall and Spring season, each lasting 7 weeks with a 4-5 game postseason.  Their first game, they were handily defeated by the Montgomery County Mustangs.  This defeat would be their last for the next calendar year.  "As a coach, it is difficult to articulate a characteristic that some players have.  Grit, determination, the ability to clutch – I simply define it as, when this player is in the game, I know we have a chance," commented MCC Co-Head Coach Andrew Goforth. "Overwatch: Gold" has, for the past two years, been comprised of players that have this characteristic.  Alongside this, the title coach of this team, Coach Samuel Geller, is one of the most brilliant Overwatch players that one might cross paths with."  

The Fall '23 season would end in a rematch against the Mustangs, decided on a clutch play by Jorgensen, on his unconventional main character, Roadhog.  By Spring '24, the team came into its own, only dropping one map in a dominant regular season (record of 21-1).  In the postseason, the team went completely undefeated, facing in-state rival NIACC in the National Championship and coming out on top in a 3-0 victory.  

The next Fall season was a bit rockier. Captain Sinn, who had proven to be a mastermind strategist and "coach on the field," graduated, alongside his long-time teammate Hassin.  Two members of the Blue Team, Goulding and Novotny stepped in to varsity roles.  The new team was given a wake-up call four weeks into the regular season, once again by Montgomery County, now a fully established rival of MCC, and again, a week later by Midwest rival Missouri State – West Plains.  After two losses in a row, one more would have dashed playoff hopes for a roster that had not lost a game in over twelve months.  

Coach Geller doubled the practice schedule and toiled over strategies, ending the regular season with a win. Goulding, the new team Captain, increased his personal skills at the game immensely over this season, consistently hitting the top 500 rankings in multiple roles.  When the playoff bracket came out, we learned that MCC would have to defeat MSU-WP in the Final Four and the Montgomery County Mustangs, presumably, in the Finals.  

MCC was able to find the magic of their previous rosters, with dominant wins in the top 16 and top 8, leading to close matches between MSU-WP and Montgomery, 3-2 and 3-2.  This Spring, with all five of the starting players about to graduate, they ended their careers with a map record of 21-1 regular season and a 9-0 playoff run. 

McGerr and Powell also participated in Marvel Rivals in their final season and finished with a season record of 42-5.  Coach Geller also announced that this season would be his last coaching collegiate Overwatch for the foreseeable future, truly signifying the end of an era.  

With an extremely talented recruiting class coming in for next Fall, MCC's Overwatch team is likely to reload and look to capitalize off of its past success.  The new team, though, has massive shoes to fill, as the past four seasons of Overwatch players to grace MCC's Esports arena have never known a season that did not end in a national championship.

Photo Caption: Overwatch 2 team from left to right: Ethan McGerr, Nathan Jorgensen, Ryan Goulding, on screen Coach Sam Geller, Lijah Powell, and Paul Novotny.