Forest Hills Student Wins Kent County Cup Esports Tournament
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Forest Hills Central 12th grade student Henry “ExelionSC” Wierenga won the Kent County Cup esports tournament on Saturday, March 21. Wierenga competed against 51 other esports athletes from many area high schools for the third Kent County Cup Super Smash Bros Ultimate tournament at Kent Career Tech Center. The competition ended with four winners who received prizes including a trophy, keyboard, headsets, a controller, plus medals. The top prize and championship Kent County Cup belt went to Wierenga. Additional winners included:
- 2nd – Ayden “Wombonical” Hoisington, 12th grade, Caledonia High School
- 3rd – David “LoafOfToast” Standish, 12th grade, West Michigan Aviation Academy
- 4th – John “Cheeseman64” Richard, 12th grade, Northview High School
While gaming was at the heart of the event, students also engaged in meaningful opportunities to build essential workforce and employability skills. Through a Networking Bingo challenge, student-athletes were encouraged to connect with business and industry partners, practice professional communication, and gain real-world networking experience.
Organizations such as Kent District Library and the Michigan Council for Women in Technology were onsite, actively engaging students in conversations around career pathways and future opportunities as they worked to complete their bingo cards.
The winner of this year’s Networking Bingo drawing for a gaming chair, was Mars “ToeGrease” Brown, representing Wyoming High School.
Students explored the world of shoutcasting by delivering live play-by-play commentary for the tournament livestream. This experience gave participants a chance to build communication and presentation skills while highlighting the competition and bringing energy to the crowd in attendance. Congratulations to Caleb “DiscMan156” Starnes from East Kentwood High School, a walk-in competitor and winner of this year’s shoutcasting trophy.
“Esports is a growing, world-wide $200 billion industry. Skills learned through esports apply to media production, health sciences, marketing, HR, event management, and computer development”, said Ryan Graham, Director of Workforce Development for Kent ISD. “Students are earning full ride scholarships as esports athletes on collegiate teams enabling them to earn degrees in many areas of study.”
The Kent County Cup was developed by Kent ISD’s Workforce Development Department in partnership with Du Bui, STEM Consultant, with guidance from esports consultant Will Wolf.
