Strong regional performance keeps Cyber Warriors moving toward nationals

The college cyber defense season is not over for Indiana Tech’s Cyber Warriors.

Six weeks after winning its seventh straight and 14th overall Indiana Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition, Indiana Tech’s cyber defense team finished second to DePaul University at the Midwest Regional CCDC on March 19 and 20. The Cyber Warriors edged out third-place Southeast Missouri State University and fourth-place Metropolitan State University with a performance that earned them a spot in an April 7 National Wildcard round. A win there will send the squad to the national competition, April 23 through 25.

“I’m very happy with the Cyber Warriors’ performance over the last two days. It was a grueling 22 hours of competition and we settled into second place early on and maintained our position for the rest of the competition,” said Matt Hansen, coach of the Cyber Warriors.

Each year, competing cybersecurity teams work to combat attempted network security breaches and related challenges that test their problem-solving, technical abilities and teamwork at every turn. At the Midwest Regional, the Cyber Warriors faced fellow state champions from Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin. In the upcoming National Wildcard round, they will face an equally-tough mix of Division 1 and related powerhouse schools.

Members of this year’s Cyber Warriors team include Sam Boger, Zach Hopkins, Cameron Fyfe, Zach King, Marek Grzelak, Savanna Yoder, Nick Lanham, Osman Yusof and John Rudolf. Coach Hansen is an Indiana Tech alum who was a championship-winning Cyber Warrior himself during his time as a Tech student.