For the last two months, Athens has been home to something that the area has never seen and taken part in before: A Variety Tournament.
With events like basketball, tennis, golf, pool, corn-hole and video games, this tournament has been something new and exhilarating to many people.
Seventeen contestants were chosen from the largest student organization on campus. They competed in front of the whole Appalachian Valley via social media to see who would reign supreme as the luckiest and most skilled at Ohio University.
The tournament was posted on Challonge.com, where the public could vote on who they thought would win each match up.
A reminder voting is open to all who go to https://t.co/sdB8X6K08V and https://t.co/F0N95v40p3 CRU Variety Tournament. #VT2018 @Valley_Reality
— Taylor Brannon (@taylorbrannon24) April 5, 2018
The first round featured nine match ups, (seven happened, two were forfeits due to timing issues and schedules). Many of the match ups went down to the wire and could have gone either way.
The start of the tournament had many underdogs pulling off upsets. Michael Reimer (13), Tommy Shisler (9), and Josh Adkins (11) beat higher ranked team. Reimer won via forfeit, while Shisler and Adkins won in pool. Both were come from behind victories.
Upset city ended with Junior Nick Conner the 5 seed, who saw himself as a bit of an underdog, playing fellow junior Brandon Papp the 12 seed in basketball. Papp was seen shortly after the draw was revealed, as a possible sleeper and upset pick to go deep in the tournament. Conner, thanks to a lights out 3 point display, ended the streak of higher seeds going out winning 16-12 in a back and forth game.
“I had to come out today, I had to shoot cocky, feeling a little bit of an underdog either way the numbers may not say it,” Nick Conner said. “I rely heavily on the strength of schedule.”
— Nick Conner (@Nick__Conner) March 29, 2018
While the later half of the first round managed to see some higher seeds pull out solid victories, the match up that many had their eyes on, including people in the tournament, was the 7/10 match up that featured the lone, star-studded freshman Mitchell Naim against sophomore Ian Horstman. Both were high picks and had the highest voting turnout outside of the semi-final Elite Four matches with Naim predicted to win. Both were potential finals sleepers in many competitors’ eyes.
Also, the 2nd game on the day features possibly the highest anticipated first round matchup in all of the 32 tournaments first rounds I have hosted in the #battleofgains! 7 @mitchellnaim vs 10 @horstman98 in 2K Basketball. All time series is 3 a piece with the tiebreaker tonight!
— Taylor Brannon (@taylorbrannon24) April 5, 2018
Horstman won the battle in NBA 2K18 70-59 as the first round came to a close.
“Yeah, I think it’s pretty sweet to see the people watching this tournament,” Horstman said. “Personally I think I have a few Sister Jean’s on my side.” (Referring to the team Chaplin of this years Loyola-Chicago team in the NCAA March Madness tournament).
The second round matchups kept the hype going. With three match ups out of four taking place. (Josh Igwe had to forfeit due to timing issues against Ian Horstman).
The first two games carried success over from the first round for two of our victors. Nick Conner hit a game winning 3-pointer in basketball against Michael Reimer to go to the Elite Four. Tommy Shisler was down 12-1 and nailed 22 points in a row to come back and defeat No. 1 seed Matt Ratliff in corn hole to advance.
Meanwhile Josh Adkins defeated No. 3 seed Davis Keel in golf to advance to the Elite Four where he would play Ian Horstman.
The Elite Four brought many stories to light as the field of 17 narrowed down to 4.
Elite 4 Cover photos: @Jaddykins, @TommyS7797, @Nick__Conner, and @horstman98 pic.twitter.com/a2hUmNNRje
— Taylor Brannon (@taylorbrannon24) May 3, 2018
The first match featured Tommy Shisler, who came from behind and survived both rounds barely vs. Nick Conner who stunned the basketball world making clutch shots down the stretch. They battled in corn hole where, to put it simply, Tommy’s luck ran out and Nick capitalized on a 21-4 blowout.
“It just wasn’t my day,” Shisler said. “Nick caught fire and just kept it going the whole time. I definitely appreciate all the fans that followed me throughout this tournament.”
The second match featured Ian Horstman and Josh Adkins in a battle of NBA 2K basketball where Horstman
The finals consisted of Nick Conner and Ian Horstman who were both battle-tested. Both were very tired from the long journey as they battled it out in basketball. Neither one shot that well as Ian Horstman prevailed 23-15 to hoist the Leader’s Legacy Variety Tournament Trophy!
Leader’s Legacy https://t.co/bHMqPEUlAF via @challonge
— Taylor Brannon (@taylorbrannon24) April 29, 2018