DES MOINES, IOWA — Grand View University Esports continues to make program history as the Vikings League of Legends team secured a 4th place finish at the 2026 College League of Legends (CLoL) National Championships, marking the highest national placement in program history.
The 2026 CLoL season featured approximately 300 participating schools and over 600 teams competing across regional conferences nationwide, making it one of the largest collegiate esports competitions in North America.
Grand View's Top 4 finish represents a major milestone for the program. In previous seasons, the Vikings reached the Top 16 and Top 32 stages of national competition, but this year's roster elevated the program to a new level on the national stage.
The Vikings' playoff run included several marquee matchups against some of collegiate esports' premier programs. Grand View opened championship bracket play before falling to perennial powerhouse Maryville University in the Upper Semifinals. The team responded with resilience in the lower bracket, defeating UC Irvine in a 3-2 Lower Quarterfinals victory to keep their championship hopes alive. Grand View's tournament run ultimately concluded in another tightly contested series, narrowly falling 2-3 against Ole Miss in the Lower Semifinals.
"I couldn't have asked for a better year from this team," said Grand View University Director of Esports Nathan Ragsdell. "Seeing graduating seniors Mark "Nightstar" Gonzalez and Matthew "Castle" Castleberry spend four hardfought years culminating in a fourth place finish and even showing the capacity to potentially win it all is such an amazing feeling. They can hold their heads up high knowing they made history in their senior year."
Despite the conclusion of the CLoL season, the Vikings are not done competing. Grand View now turns its attention to the NECC Division 1 National Championships, where they will face another competitive national field featuring Simon Fraser University, Fisher College, and Northwood University.
NECC D1 National Championship competition begins on May 14, 2026, with matches streamed live on the NECC Twitch channel at: https://www.twitch.tv/necc_esports
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