Call of Duty Team Proved they were the Best in Wisconsin

MEQUON, Wis. – The CUW Call of Duty (CoD) team participated in both the College Call of Duty League as well as the Call of Duty Academy League.

The College CoD League (CCL) consisted of sophomore Sean Hofstetter (Colombia, Ill.), junior Cade Jahns (Ripon, Wis.), and seniors Nathan Bauknecht (Crandon, Wis.) and Luc Kreuser (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.). The CoD Academy League was headlined by freshman Theron Miron (Freedom, Wis.), sophomore Reese Knapp (Milwaukee, Wis.), junior Chase Coots (Round Rock, Texas), and seniors Aidan O'Donnell (Oconomowoc, Wis.) and Josh Klausmeier (Lathrup Village, Mich.).

The CoD squad began their work even before the traditional semester started, running boot camps and workouts early in the year. The teams were all new to each other with only one team competing in the CCL in the Fall. 

The CCL team proved themselves over the semester as they worked to solidify themselves as the best in Wisconsin. 

They proved that with a win over Wisconsin late in Split two of the CCL season. In the group stage of playoffs, the team lost to a pair of national top-10 teams to be eliminated from contention. "Our goal was to continually improve, and we did that. We know we are better today than we were at the start of the season and it isn't even close. Despite getting knocked out of the playoffs early, we placed higher than we did last season too. Steady progression" is how head coach Lewis Smith described the team.

The Academy team was a new team to CUW esports in the Spring semester. The team pushed themselves and grew along the way. "For not even having a second team last season, the fact that we could nurture enough depth to now only field another team but also go .500 just speaks to how hard these guys work. Both teams have been grinding since Fall and it showed," was how Smith described the team.

The Blue and White will return in the 2022-23 season to push themselves even further.