By Connor Donnelly
The Silver Lake Smash Bros Esports team made it to the State Playoffs. They are the first Smash Bro team to make it to the playoffs from Silver Lake. The boys had a great season and freshman Xander Journey had one of the best regular seasons yet. Mr. Knehans the coach of the Esports team is proud to take them to the playoffs. He said, “The Silver Lake 1 team, sophomore Riley Klemptner and Journey, were an 11 seed heading into the tournament. They beat 22nd-ranked Sandy Creek 3-0 and then upset 6th-seed and undefeated Pender 3-2 to qualify for state. They’ll play Franklin 2 in the first round. The Silver Lake 2 team, freshman Evan Kerr and senior Louden Shockey, team had a little more work to do. They were the 25th-seeded team and beat 41st-seed East Butler 3-0, upset 9th-seed Wynot 3-0, and beat 24th-seeded Quest Forward Academy to make it to state. They’ll play Franklin1 in the first round.” The boys are super excited for this opportunity. They worked hard to get there and they had some tough matches on the way to playoffs. Knehans also says, “Both teams had to upset higher seeds to make it. I’m ecstatic that we have 2 teams going. Smash Brothers is the game we play every morning and I’ve seen all of these students go from never playing the game to competing at a very high level. It’s been a fun journey!” They have come a long way to get there and are great competitors. Spectators can watch the game on a Twitch Stream and the website Twitch.tv/NSeSA. Good luck Xander Journey, Louden Shockey, Evan Kerr, Riley Klempter, and Coach Knehans.