FC Esports Place 2nd in Fortnite at IEN State Finals
On Saturday, April 26, the Wildcats Esports Fortnite team traveled to the L.A. Pittenger Student Center at Ball State University to compete in the 2025 IEN State Finals.
The Fortnite team consists of Cobi Doherty, Ryot Lewis, Riley Moran, and Carson Wilhelm. Luke Estes is also on the team, and played an instrumental part in getting us through the qualifiers.
This was the biggest and most successful IEN Finals yet. Over 850 players and coaches showed up to win matches, take home trophies, grab cool swag, and continue building the esports community across the state!
The match had plenty of drama! It was originally scheduled for 3:00 PM, but due to a scheduling conflict, teams were asked to move up the match time to 2:00 PM. The team arrived at Ball State and began practicing well ahead of schedule.
One unique thing about esports is that players don’t always get to see their opponents face-to-face. This event gave players the chance to finally put faces to the usernames they’ve been competing against all year.
At 2:10 PM, students were in the lobby, patiently waiting for the production team to start the match. All players readied up, and the match began prematurely. In Fortnite, once all players hit the "Ready" button, the match starts automatically. Unfortunately, the production team had not yet made it into the game lobby. While the world was still waiting for the live stream to begin, the players thought the final match was underway. In that preemptive round, the Wildcats had a fierce showing, but it was ultimately called off, and the players were instructed to set up a new match.
Once our stream went live and the "shoutcasters" announced the teams, the final AA Fortnite match of the year was officially underway.
Franklin County took the first round of the match, with Carson playing the long game, staying alive just long enough to be the last one standing in the storm. Hobart High School's team experienced a networking issue with one of their PCs during the first round. Scottsburg came back strong in round two to earn their first of many round wins, eventually becoming the AA Fortnite Champions. After the second round, there was a pause in the match to replace Hobart High School’s network cable as they continued to have issues.
During the lull, the teams entertained the audience with an impromptu dance-off.
Scottsburg continued to build momentum, winning several rounds in a row. Franklin County rallied back with two consecutive wins, putting them within striking distance. At that point, the score was Scottsburg 4 - FC 3 - Norwell 1 - Hobart 0. There was still hope that the Wildcats could win out and take the trophy home. Unfortunately, Scottsburg claimed victory in round 8, securing the championship. The final round of the match went to Hobart. Franklin County Wildcats came away from Ball State with a Runner Up trophy, some fun new experiences, and a whole lot of amazing memories.
"The boys played their hearts out," said Director of Esports, Derek Herbert. "We knew coming into this match two things: we were the underdogs, and we had a chance at a trophy. We didn't come away with the big win, but we did something our school has never done before. We made it to State Finals, and we brought home our first hardware. I am very proud of this team!"
Esports is over for the year but will resume next fall. You can read up on many of the benefits of having an esports program at school here. If you are interested in helping our school reach new heights with the esports program, there are several ways you can support us.
Our esports computers are far from state-of-the-art. Players would benefit greatly from upgraded peripherals like keyboards, gaming mice, headsets, and monitors. The team is also currently down a PC because a hard drive has crashed and needs to be replaced. One way you can help is by donating gaming peripherals.
The Esports team is also in need of coaches for different titles. If you are interested in volunteering as a coach, please email esports@fccsc.net.
The Wildcats Esports Fortnite team made history by qualifying for the State Finals and bringing home the Esports program's first-ever trophy. Despite tough competition and unexpected technical hurdles, the team showed resilience, skill, and school spirit. Their success at the 2025 IEN State Finals is a testament to their hard work and dedication throughout the season. With plans already underway to grow and strengthen the program, the future looks bright for Wildcats Esports!
