Centralia College student Charlie “CharlieD” Stanfield defeated Laredo College’s Francisco “iFox” Pacheco 3-0 on Dec. 5 during the National Junior College Athletic Association esports national championship game, according to a news release from the college.
In his senior year at Centralia High School and his first year at Centralia College, Stanfield and his teammates won the state championship in the Nintendo fighting game Super Smash Bros Ultimate.
He enrolled at Centralia College in the fall of 2023 to complete his associate degree. He plans to pursue a degree in education.
Stanfield went undefeated in his seven regular season matches before entering the National Junior College Athletic Association esports West Super Regional Tournament as the third ranked player.
He advanced through the top half of the bracket before winning the tournament 3-0 against Heartland Community College in Illinois. He entered the national championship as the top-ranked player.
In the national championship, a double elimination tournament, Stanfield won three games and was one match away from the grand finals when he suffered his first loss of the season to a player named iFox at a score of 2-3. He entered the lower bracket, requiring him to win an extra game to get to the finals, where he would rematch iFox.
In the finals, Stanfield won two straight games against iFox, who had yet to be eliminated, to take the title.
Centralia College esports competes at the intercollegiate level as a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association Esports. The program currently competes and recruits for Overwatch 2, Valorant, League of Legends, Street Fighter 6 and Super Smash Brothers Ultimate. Previous National Championships include Overwatch (spring 2020) and Super Smash Brothers Ultimate (fall 2019).
