On Friday, Nov. 22, the Trinity Super Smash Bros E-sports team faced off against Nelson County in the quarterfinals of playoffs. This victory marks just one step on the road to this semester’s state championship. Junior Kingston Fuchs said on their hopes for state, “We’re looking good to win state this year. Most of the teams that were strong lost a really important player last year because they were a senior.” The team competing in the match included Fuchs, junior team captain Izac Stammerman, and junior Luke Willingham.

The matches are decided through a best-of-five format. For each set, one player faces off against an opponent and tries to win two out of three games. Whichever player wins earns a set point for their team. The match began with Luke Willingham in a remarkably close battle for the first set. Luke lost the first two games in tight competitions, putting Trinity down 0-1. Next, Stammerman dominated his opponent in a blowout, winning 2-0 without being eliminated once. With the score tied 1-1, Fuchs stepped in to try to take the lead. Trinity cruised to another 2-0 victory, giving them the set advantage at 2-1.

For the fourth set, Trinity decided to put Fuchs back in to end the match. He won the first game but lost the next two in nail-biters. With the score tied at 2-2 and the match on the line, Stammerman stepped in once more and swept the fifth and final set to secure the win. With this victory, the Trinity E-sports team moves one step closer to the state championship and will face Harlan County in the semifinals. If they advance, they will compete in the Final Four held in Lexington.