Last Saturday, April 19, in Loose Lounge, Ryan Hautzinger and Tague Zachary (both ’15) hosted the Third Semi-Annual Super Smash Bros. Tournament. After several rounds of competition, Beau Bressler ’16 defended his title as Grinnell’s Super Smash Bros. champion, besting about 80 other students who competed throughout the day.

By enlisting the help of other students and All Campus Events, the hosts were able to advertise, acquire the technology needed to expand the tournament and also ensure that it was better organized. Their efforts did not go unnoticed—exactly 100 students pre-registered for the tournament, although not all actually competed.

Thanks to owners who volunteered their game consoles and televisions, the tournament was able to have eight competitions occurring simultaneously, as opposed to six at previous tournaments.

 “I was tabling all week, which was okay,” Hautzinger said. “[However], it took ridiculously long to set up this year. I was [at Loose] for nine hours—from 12 to 9. Setting up takes a lot. You have to call in different people and bring in TVs.”

Despite the labor involved, Hautzinger was satisfied to see that other students were interested in assisting with the tournament. Next year, the duo will be seniors and, as such, they intend to pass the baton on to younger students.

From the looks of things, the bi-annual tournament is here to stay.

“We became permanently allocated for, which is what happens with long-standing events through All Campus Events Committee.  We get 300 dollars every semester to do what we can with. That mostly goes to pizzas, duct tape labeling, posters, et cetera,” Hautzinger said.

Compiled by Linda Oyolu ’17 and John Brady ’16