On July 11, 2026, Senior Cruz Jones won the Amateur E-Sports Association’s National Super Smash Bros. Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma, an astounding feat that made him Benet’s first national champion.

Cruz’s journey to his championship began during his freshman year, when seniors taught him how to play Super Smash Bros. as the character Kazuya. Esports became his passion. Despite being the only player on the Benet Esports Team last year, Cruz stuck with it and continued to improve.

Throughout the spring, Cruz competed in numerous online esports tournaments, often at Scrims Esports Gaming Center, which has since gone out of business. Cruz tried to get as much offline practice as possible because Super Smash Bros. online is a “laggy” nightmare. He often limits his practicing to weekends in order to focus on his school work.

In Illinois, sports players compete in two leagues: IHSA’s esports league and the Illinois High School Esports Association’s league. Last year, Cruz placed seventh at the IHSEA State Championship and won the IHSA State Championship for Super Smash Bros.

The National Amateur Esports Association invites the top players from high school esports leagues to its national championship. Unfortunately, Cruz missed the cut to attend this tournament because only the top four players from the IHSEA State Championship are able to advance to AEA Nationals. However, because of his performance at the IHSEA Championship, Cruz did qualify to compete against other top midwestern esports players at the Eclipse Scholastic Esports Showcase at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. At the invitational, Cruz’s hardest match was against a player from Michigan. It was not without intense moments: after Cruz beat him in one game, the other player stormed out of the room in an angry fit, allowing Cruz to win the tournament.

Because Cruz won the Eclipse tournament, he earned a spot at AEA nationals at Warguts Esports in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Cruz won seven out of eight matchups over the course of the two-day tournament, claiming not only the trophy but also a place in Benet’s history books.

When asked what he enjoys about esports, Cruz praised the sport’s accessibility, saying, “it is definitely a lot easier to pick up than other sports,” because he can practice and compete from home. As Benet congratulates Cruz, the school looks forward to many more exciting Benet Esports seasons.