JACKSONVILLE, Ill.- The Illinois College Smash Bros. team punched its ticket to the NECC Grand Finals on Monday night, defeating Wayne State College 2–1 in a semifinal thriller highlighted by one of the greatest individual performances in program history.
Illinois College opened the match up with a 1–0 win in Game 1, fueled by a remarkable clutch run from Jake Petrovich, who closed the game by taking the final seven stocks while surviving on his last. After Wayne State responded with a 2–0 victory in Game 2, IC regrouped and delivered a dominant 1–0 win in the deciding game; again anchored by Petrovich. The senior repeated his Game 1 heroics, taking seven straight stocks and sealing the series with a three-stock finish over Wayne State's final player.
Petrovich ended the night with a program-record 21 stocks taken, surpassing the previous record of 16. Adam Byrd added 3 stocks, Devin Ussery tallied 5, and Julian Luaders contributed another 5.
Box Score
| Stocks Taken |
Stocks Lost |
K/F Ratio |
Username |
Opponent |
| 3 |
9 |
0.3 |
Adam Byrd |
Wayne State College – 11/18/25 NECC |
| 5 |
9 |
0.6 |
Devin Ussery |
Wayne State College – 11/18/25 NECC |
| 5 |
9 |
0.6 |
Julian Luaders |
Wayne State College – 11/18/25 NECC |
| 21 |
7 |
2.9 |
Jake Petrovich |
Wayne State College – 11/18/25 NECC |
Up Next
The team will take on Rorckford University in the finals on Tuesday, December 3rd at 7:00pm.
