OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU Esports teams will begin their 2026 spring campaigns this week as the Evangels will be competing in Overwatch, Rocket League, League of Legends, Valorant, and Super Smash Bros.
It will be a new look for the MACU Esports programs heading into the spring campaign in more ways than one. On-top of moving venues from the Fowler Center to a newly renovated area in Fozard Hall, the Evangels are also going to be participating in a new format set up by its association, NACE.
In the past where conferences were broken down based on skill level, NACE has officially changed its formatting where teams will compete in "swiss placements" over the first five weeks. During this stretch, the Evangels will be playing two matches per week in non-conference play and depending on the results, MACU's teams will be placed in an assigned six-team conference.
Following swiss placements, the Evangels will then play five conference matches to determine seeding for the postseason tournament and then compete in an eight-team postseason tournament consisting of four teams from similarly ranked divisions.
Overwatch
Team: Aaron Dodson (C), Hayden Linville, Lantis Wolfe, Jackson Zamora, Kaleb Rogers
The MACU Overwatch team will have a relatively new look to its squad for the spring slate after the team posted a second place finish in the NACE Varsity Plus 5 conference with a 6-1 league mark. The Evangels took down Florida Tech in straight games before falling to the regular season champ Sanford in the title tilt.
The Evangels do bring back some strong experience with the return of team captain Aaron Dodson (Immortal) along with some strong experience in Hayden Linville (Golden), Lantis Wolfe (Mantis/Bug), and Kaleb Rogers (Rest316). However, the Evangels are replacing one of their key co-captains in Rushell Herrera (SpicyGhost) as well as Christian Martinez (FlyingXyzan), as Jackson Zamora (ClassicJack) will join the Overwatch squad after being a key contributor on the Super Smash Bros. squad the last few years.
The Evangels will take on Western Michigan on Monday at 6 p.m. in their first swiss placements match.
Rocket League
Team: Jadon Maxwell (C), Javier Cerrillo Soto (C), Elias Hirt, Mason Kilpatrick
Coming off another NACE Varsity Plus East 4 regular season title, the Evangels bring back their entire squad, including last season's co-captains Jadon Maxwell (Brainz) and Javier Cerrillo Soto (Cl0ver) as well as another key returner in Mason Kilpatrick (Irish1256). This trio wrapped up the 2025 fall slate by capturing the Varsity Plus East 4 division with a 6-1 regular season mark. After defeating South Florida in the semifinal match, MACU's bid at seizing the tournament championship fell just short in the title match as it was topped by Florida Tech 3-1.
While MACU returns its core trio, the Evangels added a Grand Champion level player to its roster that will be looking to make an immediate impact as Elias Hirt (Eliasona) joins the squad after competing on the MACU Men's Soccer team this past season.
Mid-America Christian will begin its swiss placements on Tuesday with a 5:45 p.m. match against Jamestown.
League of Legends
Team: Alanna Winston (C), Enzo Nogue, James Orquiz, Jadon Maxwell, Angel Hernandez
The MACU League of Legends is coming off a fall campaign where it posted a 3-3 record in NACE Varsity Plus East 3 play and managed to advance to the semifinal round of its tournament after taking both games against UNC Greensboro in the quarterfinal before falling to regular season champ Ferris State in the semifinal.
The squad returns a lot of its players from the fall with Alanna Winson (Airyn) serving in the role of team captain while James Orquiz (Exiledmex), Jadon Maxwell (Brainz), and Angel Hernandez (Keru) back to compete.
The Evangels also return a highly experienced player from the 2024-25 campaign as Enzo Nogue (Entzuo) will be competing once again on the League of Legends team for the spring.
Valorant
Team: Lantis Wolfe (C), Lucas Webb, Myles Garcia, Kaleb Rogers, Angel Hernandez, Aaron Dodson
After taking the fall off, the MACU Valorant team will make its return for the spring as it brings back most of its key contributors from Spring 2025. During last spring's campaign, the Evangels posted a 5-1 record during NACE Varsity Plus East 7 conference play and defeated St. Andrews in the semifinal tournament. The Evangels gave a tough test to regular season champ Landmark, but ultimately fell 2-1.
With Lantis Wolfe (Mantis/Bug) spearheading the squad as team captain, the Evangels also bring back two of its top players in Lucas Webb (McFluried14) and Myles Garcia (NoBueno). On-top of Kaleb Rogers (Rest316) and Angel Hernandez (Keru) will be looking to make big contributions to this season's squad while Aaron Dodson (Immortal) will serve as the team alternate.
Super Smash Bros.
Team: Elijah Bates (C), Jack Search (C), Cesar Stokes, James Orquiz, Michael Spiller, Zane Foote, Jackson Zamora, Cole Talbot
The MACU Super Smash Bros. team brings back its core of players from last fall's team that went 2-5 in NACE Varsity Plus West-Central 2 play. Elijah Bates and Jack Search will serve as the team captains for the squad in the spring while James Orquiz and Cesar Stokes are two highly experienced players returning to the squad. Zane Foote, who was on the team in the fall along with newcomer Michael Spiller will look to compete in some matches in the spring as well while Jackson Zamora is an experienced player who might see some action if needed during the spring campaign.
