West Virginia University's varsity esports program wrapped up its best NACE Grand Finals performance to date last weekend, with all three teams finishing in the top three nationally at the Spring 2026 championships held at Full Sail University in Orlando, FL.
The Valorant team, seeded fourth entering the postseason, reached the national championship match for the first time in program history, falling to Maryville in the final to finish runner-up. The Rocket League team, the top seed nationally, earned third place after falling to Ball State in the semifinals. The Call of Duty team turned in perhaps the most improbable run of the weekend, entering the postseason as the No. 11 seed and battling through the lower bracket before falling to Cumberland, 3-0, in the lower bracket final to finish third.
It marked WVU's third trip to the NACE Grand Finals in three years and extended the program's streak to five consecutive NACE championships with at least one team competing in the championship match.
In individual honors, senior Matthew Ehresman was named the 2026 NACE Rocket League Player of the Year, becoming just the second player in WVU history to earn that award. Junior Andrew Gutnichenko earned second-team All-NACE recognition in Valorant, and James Ryder received the same honor in Call of Duty.
"This is a great achievement from our program,” said Josh Steger, WVU Esports head coach. “We finally have individuals and teams buying into our standards consistently. This accomplishment is not possible without Corey Koch and Jarret Birch helping lead the charge, and in due time, I believe we will see a year where all 3 teams simultaneously win national championships."
The strong postseason showing reflects the program's growing footprint in collegiate esports at the national level. The program competed in Division ONE's inaugural season, a new premier collegiate conference featuring Valorant and League of Legends, placing WVU among the first programs to help shape the emerging league's competitive landscape. WVU is also a member institution of VOICE (Voice of Intercollegiate Esports), a nonprofit organization focused on research, governance, and advocacy for collegiate esports programs across North America.
WVU has won four national championships since launching its varsity program in October 2021.