Nicholas Marrone of Lees-McRae Captures Conference Carolinas Esports EA Sports FC Invitational Crown
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Nicholas Marrone of Lees-McRae captured his second consecutive conference soccer esports championship with his victory in the 2023 Conference Carolinas EA Sports FC Invitational Finals on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
Marrone bested Chowan’s Leke Ademola in the grand finals by taking the first two games in the best-of-three series. Playing as Paris Saint-Germain, Marrone garnered a thrilling 4-3 win in game one over Ademola’s Real Madrid. Marrone battled back to pick up a 3-2 win in the tournament-clinching second game.
To see all of the results from a thrilling day of action, please visit
here.
The third annual EA Sports FC Invitational Finals officially kicked off a 2023-24 academic year that will feature three esports game championships in Conference Carolinas. The fourth annual esports Madden Championship will take place on Feb. 10, 2024, while the NBA 2K24 Championship will be held on March 16, 2024. The esports championship will be the second in the NBA2K series for Conference Carolinas, but its first in the game series since the 2020-21 academic year.
Conference Carolinas has held an esports championship in Madden for the last four academic years, an EA Sports FC Invitational in the spring and fall of 2022 and in 2021 the conference held an NBA 2K21 championship. Conference Carolinas held a Rocket League Invitational in the spring of 2023.
Bryce Witt of Chowan won the inaugural Madden Invitational in 2020-21 with Barton’s Austin Hetter taking the title in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 academic years. Deante Shackleford of Belmont Abbey secured the NBA 2K21 championship title in 2020-21.
Marrone captured the title in the second annual esports Conference Carolinas EA Sports FC Invitational in the fall of 2022. Erskine’s Carlos Murguia picked up the win in the inaugural Conference Carolinas EA Sports FC Invitational in April of 2022.
King secured its first-ever Conference Carolinas esports title in the inaugural Rocket League Invitational Finals held on Saturday, March 11, 2023. The King trio of Andrew Connor Wade, Matthew Bilbruck and William Leenen picked up the Rocket League championship.
Conference Carolinas partners with Launch Esports for its esports championships. Conference Carolinas and Launch Esports are collaborating with EGF for the second straight year for the 2023-24 esports championships in the conference.
2023-24 Conference Carolinas Esports
EA Sports FC Invitational Finals
Champion
Nicholas Marrone, Lees-McRae
EA Sports FC Invitational Finals Participants
Chase Jansen, Chowan
Christopher Soudir, Belmont Abbey
Austin Pantaleo, King
Leke Ademola, Chowan
Nicholas Marrone, Lees-McRae
Erik Ramirez, Barton
Somuadina Okwosha, Barton