ETSU sports have been getting a lot of respect as of late.
This year, for the first time in ETSU’s history, both the men’s and women’s basketball teams qualified for their respective NCAA tournaments. The men’s track team won their third Atlantic Sun indoor title in four years. And the men’s golf team just cracked the top 25 in NCAA rankings.
But, as good as these clubs were and are doing, none of them reached a No. 1 spot in national standings.
Only one ETSU club can say that.
“We all have a lot of fun,” said Gary Wills, president of ETSU’s paintball club. “There are 95 schools in the NCPA, and we have the best scores of all of them.”
The NCPA, or National Collegiate Paintball Association, is a cooperative venture by former college paintball tournament organizers to allow schools from across the nation to play each other in a competitive format. This season, the NCPA has sponsored 38 events at 19 different schools.
“We’ve played in five events this year,” Wills said. “We’ve won first place three times and got third twice.”
The NCPA scoring system awards points based on how teams finish in the events. So even though ETSU has only competed in 13 percent of tournament play this year, their high scores in those events warrant the No. 1 spot.
“We try to get out as often as we can,” Co-president Austin Rhudy said. “I don’t think any school has gone to all the tournaments.”
Rhudy is right. Fourth-place University of Wisconsin-Platteville leads the 95 schools in tournament appearances with 10. More appearances, however, don’t necessarily translate to higher scores. Seven of Platteville’s matches ended with finishes outside of the top 10, thereby lowering their overall average.
This is the first season that ETSU will have competed in more than one event. Last year, ETSU took seventh place at the Tennessee Open in Chattanooga, making them 64th in the nation. An increase in interest and a full roster have helped ETSU turn things around.
“We’ve tried to get the word out about us,” Wills said. “This year, more people are interested and we’ve told some friends about it, so we’ve been able to compete more than last year.”
Their increased competition has yielded the best result for ETSU: an appearance in the National Collegiate Paintball Championships. Hosted by the University of Central Florida, the championship doubles the point total that teams would usually receive during the regular season. Since ETSU is only about 11 points ahead of second-place Minnesota, their first-place ranking won’t give them any kind of edge.
“We know we have to play our best,” Rhudy said. “Since points are doubled in Nationals, it’s anybody’s game.”
The championship is set for April 17 and will conclude on April 19.

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