Towson Esports’ Christian Webb named Madden 23 champion after undefeated run
By: Sam Peterson, Staff writer
After going on a perfect run in the LevelNext Madden tournament, junior Christian Webb was named Madden 23 champion after defeating the number two Madden player in the world, bringing home the championship for Towson Esports and a $25,000 prize.
Webb is one of the newest members of the Towson Esports team, joining during the Madden tournament in October 2022. Webb became a member after getting in contact with the Esports team, and he received an official team jersey to wear throughout the rest of the tournament.
Webb went on to face the number one seed University of Oregon in the second round of the tournament and West Virginia University in the championship and won 31-29, finishing the tournament with a perfect record of 12-0.
“I saw I was doing good in the tournament and I wanted to be a part of something,” Webb said. “The tournament was fun. I did have to prepare, like each game I had some film on my opponents and see what plays they like to run.”
Throughout the tournament, Webb’s confidence and comfortability grew as he faced tougher competition each round. Before each round, Webb prepared by listening to some of his pregame songs to hype himself up.
With Webb becoming the Madden collegiate national champion, he secured a spot in two more Madden tournaments including the Madden Championship Series where he will face off against some of the top competition in the Madden community. Webb’s main focus for both tournaments is to continue his success and bring home more championships.
“He’s definitely on the map being the defending champion,” Madden Competitive Gaming Community Manager Narayan Glick said. “He’s got a bright future for sure. At the end of the day, winning is going to help but he’s creating some cool opportunities for himself.”
To prepare for his upcoming tournaments, Webb is looking to build the best team he can to create the best advantage for himself he said. He plans to use some of the prize money from the previous tournament to build his team and create the best chance of winning the next tournament for himself. Webb also plans to spend as much time as he can playing Madden and finding competition so he can grow his skillset and become a better player overall.
Webb’s success in the LevelNext championship has created new opportunities for him as a player and as a student. Webb now has the Towson Esports team’s support in his upcoming tournaments, and can use their connections and resources to build his name and brand in the collegiate Esports community.
“The fact that he comes in in his first year and beats the number two in the world is pretty crazy,” Former Towson Esports President Joshua Finkelstein said. “Just keeping the momentum going in the social media sphere and having him know that there’s a lot of people now watching him, backing him at least from the university standpoint.”
Webb is a current junior from Hagerstown, Maryland, majoring in physical education at Towson. He’s been playing video games since he was eight years old after playing with his cousin at that age. Playing video games did not become serious for him until last year when he began playing competitively, he said. Outside of playing competitively, Webb has a youtube channel where he gives out plays and tips to viewers to improve their play in Madden.
Until the next tournament, Webb will continue to establish his name in the competitive Madden and collegiate Esports community through constant preparation and hard work, with the full backing of the Towson Esports team.
“I’m focused on the MCS tournament,” Webb said. “I’m just preparing by trying to build the best team I can build. I’m just trying to do the right things to where I feel like I deserve it.”
