PLYMOUTH, Wis. -- The Ripon Esports team claimed first place at this year's Wisconsin Esports Conference Northeast Regional for Super Smash Bros Ultimate, defeating UW-Green Bay, Lakeland University, and UW-Green Bay JV without dropping a game. The regional victory comes after a regular season which saw the Red Hawks finish with a share of fourth place in Wisconsin out of 27 competing programs. 

Played in crew style format, WEC Super Smash Bros Ultimate consists of teams of four players, each with 3 lives ('stocks') per player, looking to take out all of the opposing team's stocks in one-on-one games. If a player eliminates an opponent's three stocks, they move on to the next opponent with however many of their own original three stocks they have left. Each team match up is played as a best of three format.

The Red Hawks opened their day with a commanding 2-0 win over UW-Green Bay, led by the strong hand of freshman Ethan Arts (Suamico, Wis., Bay Port HS), recently ranked #8 in the Wisconsin SSBU power rankings. Arts would have a strong day for Ripon while playing as Steve, securing two solo 12-stock performances over the course of the day. Arts would not be the only Ripon player to earn a single-handed game victory, with junior Sam Waring (Franklin, Wis., Franklin HS) also earning two 12-stock performances across the day while playing as Min Min. Rounding out the Red Hawks were freshmen Ruby Rosemary (Green Bay, Wis., Bay Port HS) and Connor Schmidt (Milwaukee, Wis., Gold Meir HS), helping the team take down Lakeland and UW-GB JV 2-0 to earn a place in the regional final. Facing off against UW-GB's main squad in the finals, the Red Hawks were able to repeat their strong performance from the group stage, taking down the Phoenix 2-0 to claim the regional without dropping a game. 

The Red Hawks' regional championship comes in the first year of the Esports program at Ripon, with Super Smash Bros Ultimate standing as the team's most successful title to date. The Red Hawks finished the regular season 5-2, faltering only in close losses to the top two programs in the state. Next up, the SSBU team advances to the State Championships on May 1, hosted by UW-Stout.