Pueblo West Captures Esports State Title in Mario Kart

LAKEWOOD – Thursday’s 2024 Colorado High School Activities Association esports spring championships featured a Mario Kart finals matchup between the same two teams that faced each other in last year’s title match.

In this year’s championship rematch between Pueblo West Mario Kart Varsity and defending champion RMHS Lobos Varsity, it was the Pueblo West that prevailed at Localhost. The victory avenged a loss to Rocky Mountain in last season’s finals and avoided a second straight runner-up finish.

Pueblo West now has its first esports state championship.

“Our one goal this entire year was to come back and do this,” Pueblo West head coach Curtis Dunford said. “Getting second last year was wonderful and we loved it. But we knew that if we came together as a team and really practiced a lot that we could take first, and we did.”

On Thursday, Pueblo West – Jesse Wardle, Bradley Johnson, Alexander Price and Ayres Ritchey – was the dominant team from the start, winning 3-0 over Rocky Mountain – Cooper White, Layla Woodman, Alyson Cathcart and James Baird – in the championship match.

“No question about whether we won it or not, which is a really good feeling,” Dunford said. “In particular, Jesse Wardle, who is the team captain, did an amazing job with orchestrating subs and practice and making sure everybody was getting better. He was the main reason this team is so good, and because everyone else put in the time and the effort. I’ve never seen them play better than they did in the finals today.

“They did amazingly well and a lot of hard work has paid off, and that’s a really good feeling.”

Both Rocky Mountain and Pueblo West were the only two schools that had a team playing both titles’ finals on Thursday. At last season’s state tournament, Rocky Mountain swept both offered titles – Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

To reach the finals, Rocky Mountain won 2-0 over Falcon’s Falcon Awesome Kart – Parker Kelly, Quincy Group, Carter Ring and Matej Vesely. In the opposite semifinal, Pueblo West won 2-0 over Discovery Canyon’s DCC Mario Kart – Kaleb Kirby, Andrew Hiles, Brendan Youkey and Coleton Tallman.

The state playoffs began with 32 teams. The final four teams that advanced play at Localhost on Thursday.