Beckley, W.Va. - The WVU Tech esports Fortnite team completed a strong season of their own as the program's 2023-24 competitive campaign came to a close over the final weeks. The Golden Bears turned in a strong follow-up year in National Association of Collegiate Esports open series action, but the highlight of the season was a 10th place overall finish in a no-builds trios final, their first as a member of the East Coast Athletic Conference (ECAC). 

Players DAcoop (Jacob Cooper, Jr.), Dr. Unrushed (Ryan Hayden, Fr.) and TheWacki1 (Keith Karwacki, Fr.) steadily improved their play and built up their confidence week by week over the course of an eight week Spring season, finishing 24th overall out 63 other entered trios nationwide. That effort earned them a spot in a two-week playoff featuring the top 33 regular season finishers.  

During the first week's playoff round on April 5, finishes of 9th (four eliminations), 5th (three eliminations) and 16th (one elimination) earned the Golden Bears 10th place in the final standings, qualifying them for the final round of 25 teams. During that round on April 12, they turned in finishes of 14th (two eliminations), a season-high 3rd (eight eliminations) and 21st. The 3rd place finish and double points from their eight kills in the round propelled them to a 10th overall finish, exactly where they entered the playoffs.  

The WVU Tech Fortnite team projects to pick up right where they left off next fall, with breakout freshmen Dr. Unrushed and TheWacki1 returning as battle-seasoned sophomores and DAcoop moving up to Fortnite captain for his upcoming senior year. Former captain Contrax (Colson Ford, Soph.) departs as he transfers to WVU's Morgantown campus, while Dr. Unrushed also moves up into an alternate captain role for next year.