Hunter Branson Wins Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Tournament for 2nd time in a row at GigaZone Gaming Championship 5

Apr 27, 20210

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Hannah Elizabeth Cheney- Cook Tied for Popular Vote

(Bemidji, MN) April 26, 2021 – The last Saturday of GigaZone Gaming Championship 5 was held virtually Saturday, April 24 with the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Tournament.

Hunter Branson who won the Super Smash Bros. Tournament in 2019, defended his title in 2021 and won $500. Ronnie Nguyen of Bemidji got 2nd Place and $400. Kenneth Crocker of Grand Rapids finished in 3rd place for $300. Noland Anderson of Bemidji finished in 4th place for $200.

In addition to the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Tournament, there was a CosPlay contest, and door prize drawings throughout the day and Grand Prize drawings were held at the end of the day.

Grand Prize winners included: Playstation 5-Mary Sullivan, Bemidji; Xbox Series X Michael Strauch, Bemidji;

Occulus Qwest 2 Ningozis White, Bemidji

CosPlay Contest-

1st Roselynn Jones, Cass Lake $300

2nd David Harper, Ponsford $200

3rd Khoriana Vaerconum, Hibbing $100

CosPlay Popular Vote Winners- $200 each

Hannah Elizabeth Cheney – Cook

Roselynn Jones, inquisitor - Cass Lake

GigaZone Gaming Championship 5 was held virtual over 3 consecutive Saturdays. The Overwatch 6v6 Tournament was held on Saturday, April 10 and won by Team Yes. The Madden 21 tournament was held on Saturday, April 17 and won by Dain Walters from Grand Rapids. For the official results of GigaZone Gaming Championship 5 visit http://www.paulbunyan.net

"What an incredible job our team has done in pivoting to a virtual event his year! I'm very proud of all the hard work and dedication put in to provide these three weekends of online gaming fun for the region," said Gary Johnson, Paul Bunyan Communications CEO/General Manager

This one-of-a-kind regional gaming event is free to play or watch and is being held virtually due to the pandemic. It showcases Paul Bunyan Communications' IT and web development team which custom built and integrated much of the online technology to make the virtual event possible. The event leverages the speed of the GigaZone one of the largest rural all-fiber optic Gigabit networks in the country and the entire event is run off a single residential GigaZone Internet connection.

"The GigaZone provides extreme speed and low latency which are critical for the best online gaming experience and the GigaZone Gaming Championship showcases just that," added Leo Anderson, Paul Bunyan Communications Technology Experience Manager.

This Paul Bunyan Communications event includes the talents of many local partners including NLFX, Accidently Cool Games, Northern Amusement, as well support from several regional and national partners.

For more information on the GigaZone Gaming Championship visit http://www.gigazonegaming.com

Paul Bunyan Communications has the region's largest and fastest all fiber optic network with over 5,500 square miles throughout most of Beltrami County and portions of Cass, Hubbard, Itasca, Koochiching, and St. Louis Counties. The Cooperative provides Broadband High Speed Internet Services including the GigaZone, digital and high definition television services, digital voice services, Residential and Business IT services, and is also northern Minnesota's certified Apple Service Center.

2021 GigaZone Gaming Championship 5 Official Results

Saturday, April 10

Overwatch 6v6 Community Tournament

1st Team YES $1,800 ($300 per player)

Kelly Whipple, Kylie Elliott, Tien Nguyen, Connor Broderick, and Coby LaCroix from Bemidji and Isaak R Smith from Deer River.

2nd The Clean Up Crew $1,200 ($200 per player)

Thomas Berge of Bemidji, Ethan Hunt and Ewan Newbold of Pine River, Tristan Jourdain from Red Lake, Jacob Peterson from Red Lake Falls, and Kohl Belgrade-Gotchie from Akeley.

3rd ISSA Team $600 ($100 per player)

All from Bemidji including Tristan Lawrence, Naziah Matt, Devon Rainey, James Jones, Matoskah Veaux, and Dakota Veaux

Saturday, April 17

Madden 21 Tournament

1st Dain Walters, Grand Rapids $500

2nd Adam Scott, Brainerd $400

3rd Nick Miller, Brainerd $300

4th Drew Holden, Bemidji $200

Saturday, April 24

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

1st Hunter Branson, Lakeville* $500

2nd Ronnie Nguyen, Bemidji $400