The Winningest High Schools in GSE History

Since 2021, Garden State Esports has awarded 116 high school state championships, and 49 different schools have taken home at least one title. Some programs have dominated a single game. Others have won across multiple games, formats, and divisions. A few have stayed at the top for years, even as their rosters changed and new students took over.

We ranked the winningest high schools in GSE history by total state championships across the Championship and Valkyrie Leagues, counting up from four titles to the top of the list.

No. 6 (tie): Bayonne, Four Titles and a Breakout Year

Bayonne had never won a GSE state championship before 2026. Then it won four.

The turnaround happened at Georgian Court University, where Bayonne claimed Valkyrie Overwatch and Group III/IV Street Fighter 6 titles in the winter, then returned in the spring to win Valkyrie Valorant and Group V Valorant.

The Valkyrie Valorant victory was particularly notable. Bayonne ended Cherry Hill East’s two-year hold on the championship, while its Group V win added another title to an already impressive season. No program has made a bigger jump in such a short time.

No. 6 (tie): Hopatcong, Four Games, Four Championships

Hopatcong has won four state championships, each in a different game: Knockout City in 2023, Omega Strikers in 2024, Overcooked in Winter 2025, and Smash Crews in Fall 2025.

The run started with a comeback victory in Knockout City at Kean University. The Overcooked championship at Georgian Court capped three consecutive winter championship seasons.

No. 6 (tie): Mercer County Technical Schools, A Group I Rivalry

Mercer County Technical Schools has four state championships, including its first-ever Valkyrie League title, earned in Valorant during Spring 2023 at Stockton University.

The school has also built an impressive record in Group I. Mercer won Group I Valorant in 2024, Group I Overwatch in 2025, and Group I Marvel Rivals in Fall 2025.

Its Overwatch history is especially interesting because of its rivalry with Cape May County Technical High School. The two schools have traded the Group I Overwatch title back and forth: Cape May won it in 2024, Mercer took it in 2025, and Cape May took it back in 2026. Since 2024, the two schools have combined for seven Group I state championships across all games.

No. 5: Cape May County Technical High School, A Consistent Contender

Cape May County Technical High School won its first GSE state championship in Winter 2024, taking Group I Overwatch at Brookdale Community College. Five titles in, the program has proved it can win across multiple games.

Cape May has two Overwatch championships, two Super Smash Bros. championships, and one Marvel Rivals title. It also put together a run of three consecutive championship seasons from Spring 2025 through Winter 2026.

No. 4: Seneca, Six Rocket League Championships

Seneca has won six state championships, all in Rocket League. No high school has won more GSE titles in Rocket League.

The run began in Spring 2023, and Seneca has won a championship every season since then except Spring 2024, when Morris Hills took the Group III/IV 2v2 title in an absolute barn burner.

The most remarkable part of the run may be the players behind it. Will Kehlenbeck and AJ Abrams won their first championship as freshmen in Spring 2023 and were part of all six title-winning teams through their senior year.

Both now play together for Stockton University on scholarship. On October 2–4, they helped Stockton finish in the top 16 at the Collegiate Esports Showdown, a national college Rocket League tournament, only a few months into their freshman year.

No. 3: Cherry Hill East, A Legacy Across League of Legends and Valorant

Cherry Hill East won its first GSE state championship in League of Legends in Spring 2021. It added another League of Legends title in Fall 2024, but Valorant has become the foundation of its championship history, accounting for five of the school’s seven titles.

One of Cherry Hill East’s biggest moments came at the 2024 Spring Championships at Stockton University. Both its Championship and Valkyrie Valorant teams finished undefeated regular seasons and won their respective state championships.

Hannah “Jelly” Lim was part of both championship-winning teams. Now a senior, she has become one of the country’s top Valorant players, and her performance has attracted interest from several colleges, including Syracuse University.

With Hannah at the helm, Cherry Hill East added another Valkyrie championship in Spring 2025, followed by a Group IV title in Spring 2026.

No. 1 (tie): High Tech, A Championship Standard

High Tech has won nine GSE state championships, including six in Super Smash Bros. across 3v3, 2v2, and Crews. From Group I to Group III, the school built a Smash dynasty that lasted from Spring 2022 through Spring 2025.

At the center of that run was Lucas Velasquez, better known in the Smash community as “Luigikid.” Lucas earned GSE All-Star honors and helped anchor High Tech’s championship teams. He now captains RIT’s Division I Smash team.

Lucas passed the torch to Matteo Amy. Matteo helped High Tech win its Spring 2025 Smash state title, then won the singles bracket at the EGF National Championship and earned the 2026 EGF MVP Forge Award. The Smash program Lucas helped build is still producing some of the best high school players in the country.

Smash was the backbone of High Tech’s success, but it wasn’t the whole story. The school won Overwatch in Winter 2022, then added League of Legends and Smash Crews that spring. More recently, High Tech claimed the Marvel Rivals state championship in Fall 2025.

High Tech has won at least one GSE state championship every school year since 2021-22.

No. 1 (tie): Barnegat, A Program That Keeps Reloading

Nine state championships. Four games. Six years of competition. Barnegat is tied with High Tech for the most state titles in GSE history, and its success has survived multiple graduating classes, changing rosters, and different competitive divisions. The Bengals don’t rebuild. They reload.

The Overwatch program is the clearest example. Barnegat won three consecutive winter state championships from 2024 through 2026, and its back-to-back title runs in 2025 and 2026 were as dominant as they come: undefeated, without dropping a single map. At the center of that run was Nick “Greendragoon” Sellers, who earned a full scholarship to Syracuse University to play Overwatch. Now, he’s preparing to return to Barnegat as the team’s coach, following in the footsteps of his mother, Traci Sellers, who helped build the program.

Barnegat’s Valkyrie Smash Bros. success has its own anchor in Kayla “The Pacinator.” She helped lead Barnegat through a remarkable run that included four Valkyrie Smash championships between Fall 2023 and Spring 2025. Those titles established Barnegat as a force in its own right, alongside the school’s Championship division titles.

The titles stretch back to Rocket League in Fall 2021, with League of Legends adding another championship in Fall 2023. Across six years, Barnegat has won in Rocket League, League of Legends, Super Smash Bros., and Overwatch, proving its success can travel from one game to another and one graduating class to the next.

Barnegat and Cherry Hill East are the only schools in this ranking to win state championships in both 2021 and 2026.

Knocking on the Door

Seven other high schools have won three GSE state championships. Each has built its own path to the podium:

• Cherokee: Three Group IV Super Smash Bros. championships in Fall 2024, Spring 2025, and Fall 2025.

• Holmdel: Three consecutive spring Valorant championships from 2024 through 2026.

• Scotch Plains-Fanwood: Three consecutive winter Overwatch championships from 2023 through 2025.

• Northern Valley Old Tappan: A Spring 2022 Valorant title and League of Legends championships in Fall 2022 and Fall 2025.

• Manchester Regional: Rocket League championships in 2022 and 2023, followed by a 2XKO title in Spring 2026.

• Morris Hills: Rocket League championships in 2024 and 2025, plus a Group III Valorant title in Spring 2026. Its Spring 2024 Rocket League 2v2 title made Morris Hills the only team to keep Seneca from a title since 2023.

• West Essex: A Group III Valorant championship in Spring 2024, followed by Overcooked and Mario Kart titles in 2026.

The Next Generation of Champions

Forty-nine high schools have won at least one GSE state championship since 2021, and every season has brought a first-time champion.

Bayonne is a recent example. After never winning a title, the school won four in 2026. Programs can rise quickly when new players step up, coaches build strong teams, and students get the opportunity to compete.

Keeping that success going is harder. Seniors graduate, metas change, and games come and go. The programs that stay competitive find ways to bring new players into the fold and keep building.

That is what makes these records worth revisiting. Behind every championship are students who put in the work, coaches who support them, and school communities that make esports possible.

Explore GSE’s State Champions page to see the full championship history.

Come see what history will be made at the 2026 Fall State Championships. Get your tickets here.