By Carter Daley

Winning is a term that has become familiar term to the St. John Bosco varsity Valorant team. In just three years of having an official Valorant team, Bosco has won two High School Esports League (HSEL) titles.

The team is full of young talent, made up of two juniors, two sophomores and a freshman. Captain Max Abrahamson, ranked as the 17th best Valorant player in North America, is only a junior and will get another chance to repeat and become a three-time champion.

“[Winning the HSEL championship] feels like last time: great. But the job isn’t finished. We have to go to Kansas City in May to actually compete for a National Championship,” said Max.

The talent does not just stop at Max, however, as the most highlighted player of the Bosco team is freshman Alex Banyasz, who ranked as the number one player in North America across all Valorant servers in the past month. 

“It’s great playing with Alex. I definitely feel like he can go pro,” Max said.

The Braves had the challenging task of bouncing back in their HSEL league after failing to beat Arcadia High School in the same championship game the previous semester. This emphasized the importance of this rematch, as they had that chip weighing on their shoulders.

This chip carried onto the start of their season this semester, where they held a perfect 8-0 record in the regular season, being the only team that maintained a perfect record. 

With momentum, the Braves would only drop one map during their entire playoff run and cruise into the finals. They would be competing against Quartz Hill High School, a team they lost to the previous season. 

In dominating fashion, this talented squad of youngsters would beat Quartz Hill by a score of 2-0, completing their perfect season, the second championship this team captured in just two years.

“It was mixed feelings of excitement and relief. We’ve been trying to make nationals for three years, and every year, I felt like we had a good team but always seemed to fall short in the playoffs,” said Coach and 2020 Bosco Alum Eli Giangualano. “To have a near-perfect playoff season and end it in such a dominant fashion was rewarding to not only me, but also our captain Max Abrahamson who’s been a part of this team every year.”  

On top of the Valorant team’s recent success, the Rainbow Six Siege team is captained by senior Ezekiel Tejeda. The team that finished their regular season with a record of 4-4 barely clinched a playoff berth, but earning that spot in the playoffs has brought great momentum to the squad. 

With back-to-back upset wins over opponents, the Rainbow Six Siege team will have the opportunity to shock everyone and claim the first championship in program history for the specific game. 

“This team means so much to me,” said Ezekiel. “This is the second time we’ve made it to playoffs, both being this academic year. Even though most of the time was a complete headache for me, I’m still so proud of the young men who will be taking the reins of this team when I graduate”.

With big games on the horizon for Bosco’s Esports program, there will surely be a lot of noteworthy action. The Bosco Valorant team will head to Kansas City on May 20th, and the Rainbow Six Siege team will continue their playoff run tonight.