Left to right: Ethan Roehrborn, Owen Hornickel, and Alex Hernandez
Sheboygan North High School features some of the best esports athletes in the state.
Earlier this year, Sheboygan North’s Fortnite team was crowned state champions after beating out 100 other squads from across Wisconsin to win the title.
Coached by physics teacher Dan Dielentheis, team members Alexander Hernandez, Owen Hornickel, Ethan Roehrborn, and Jett Beninghaus earned 90 points during the competition to secure a narrow four-point victory.
Coach Dielentheis and Hornickel, Roehrborn, and Hernandez sat down with SeehaferNews.com to reminisce on the championship performance and to set the record straight on esports.
Dielentheis said the guys’ commitment and connection gave him a sense of pride.
“They really wanted to play at a really high, competitive level but recognized from very early on that this was a team effort,” he said. “There were some plays where I still think that the only way they could have made those plays work is if they had that trust in each other.”
Like any state championship effort in any sport, some long nights and countless hours of practice were necessary.
Although an esports practice may look different than those from other team sports, Hornickel shared what goes into a normal day of practice for him and his teammates.
“We would always try to text each other to see when we were free throughout the week,” he explained. “Then we’d get on, we’d talk about some things if we watched a stream of someone professionally. Then we’d talk it over, do drop spots, and figure out where the chests were.”
In addition to studying the map to understand where the most advantageous or strategic spot to drop is, they also watch what others would consider film.
Film for Fortnite players consists of watching professionals stream the game to pick up even the slightest edge over their opponents.
However, despite their success, the team is aware that many may overlook their accomplishments.
To those detractors, Hernandez said,“Esports is just like another sport; it’s like another person’s passion but people probably take it as a joke. “Some people take it really seriously, and it’s bigger than what it seems.”
Roehrborn echoed those same sentiments, telling SeehaferNews.com, “People don’t really consider it a sport even though it has everything a normal sport does like communication, your practices, and your games but people don’t consider it as serious as it really is.”
To this point, video games and esports have become a billion-dollar industry that even the naysayers can’t ignore.
Whether it’s grappling with getting their championship banner hung amongst the school’s other banners or finding space for their various teams to compete, Sheboygan North Esports is content to let their results do the talking.
As for Hernandez, Hornickel, Roehrborn, Beninghaus, and alternate Vince Nienhuis, they can happily say they are the best high school Fortnite team in all of Wisconsin.
