From left, Stagg High School’s Nicholas Bezanis, Cole Wycislak, Jack Gawel and Paul Cisko won the Mario Kart state championship Saturday as the IHSA brought the esports state final to Evergreen Park Community High School. (Jeff Vorva / Daily Southtown)
Stagg junior Kristian Zajac is not a morning person.
But when the Illinois High School Association hosted its first esports state tournament in Bloomington last year, many gamers from the Chicago area had to get up very early to make the morning session at Bloomington High School. He ended up finishing second in the state in the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate singles category, but it was a long day that he felt started too early.
Advertisement
“I forgot what time I woke up for that,” Zajac said. “I think I blocked it out of the memory. I’m not a morning person at all, but I had to wake up early and — that drive! It was like an hour and a half. I feel sorry for everybody who had to drive that.”
This year, the drive was not so tough for area qualifiers.
Advertisement
In the second year of the competition, the IHSA awarded Evergreen Park Community High School the bid to host the event and Saturday the school welcomed 52 schools and close to 300 students to battle for state championships in five categories.
Kristian Zajac, of Stagg High School in Palos Hills, competes in the IHSA eSports State Tournament Saturday at Evergreen Park Community High School, where he won the Super Smash Bros. event. (Jeff Vorva / Daily Southtown)
Many of the winners didn’t have to travel far, or get up too early, as students from District 230 came up with some huge finishes. Squad members from Stagg, Andrew and Sandburg high schools each had an individual or team in the championship games in four of the five categories.
As a matter of fact, the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate singles competition had two from the district duking it out, with Zajac beating Andrew’s Zaid Alqammaz 3-2 in the championship round. The two also faced off in the first round of the 16-player, double-elimination tournament.
Last year Alqammaz made history when he and Thang Troung won the state championship in the Smash Bros. duo competition. But that event wasn’t offered this year, so he went solo and had to win six straight matches before his rematch with Zajac.
Stagg won another state championship in the team Mario Kart event with a roster that features seniors Paul Cisko and Cole Wycislak, junior Nicholas Beszanis and sophomores Jack Gawel and Christos Giapitzoglou.
Stagg’s Super Smash Bros. Crew Battle team of seniors Triston Juarez and Julius Gomez, juniors Joel Droesch, Ousayed Alkhani, Isaac Ling and Szymon Kieta plus freshman Isaac Ferniza finished second to Schaumburg.
Sandburg’s Faisal Abdulhadi, who just started competing a few months ago, claimed second in the individual FIFA event.
Overall, it was a huge day for the squad from Stagg.
Advertisement
“We’re super proud of their performances,” Stagg coach Jonathan McGreal said. “Our Charger esports team is filled with a committed and disciplined roster of gamers that work well as a team together. We really focused on keeping our mental fortitude strong and locked into the match without thinking too much about the matches ahead.”
That was especially true with the Mario Kart champs as they lost to Normal West 123-111 in the final round of the winners’ bracket and had to beat St. Anthony 131-103 to get to the championship.
Stagg needed two wins over Normal West and got them with 132-102 and 137-97 victories. Last year, Normal West gamers won state titles in two of the four competitions offered.
Despite having to rise somewhat early, Zajac is thankful the IHSA has afforded the opportunities to shine.
“I like how there is more emphasis on esports,” he said. “This game is so important to my life. It’s great that I can pursue it more in college.”
Dan Truffa, esports coach at Evergreen Park Community High School, announces the start of the championship matches at the IHSA State eSports Tournament on Saturday in Evergreen Park. (Jeff Vorva / Daily Southtown)
Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >
Evergreen Park would like to pursue hosting the state meet again.
Advertisement
The school has a large Learning Resource Center capable of accommodating all of the events. There is also a large cafeteria space where players can relax when not competing, and there was a large screen showing some of the events.
Evergreen Park Community’s esports coach Dan Truffa called the event a success.
“Everything came together, and we had a lot of support from the administration,” he said. “We got all of the equipment that we needed to get here, and everything was great.”
Truffa added that the school had a game plan and didn’t go into the state meet cold.
“We started in September with planning and getting all of the equipment lined up and we did some invitationals and we learned from those the best way to organize it and all of the logistics behind all of it,” he said. “It evolved as the season went on and we figured out everything that worked great for us.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
Second ever state esports tourney comes to Evergreen Park with 300 high school gamers from 52 schools
