A commotion of friendly shouting and shooting was rampant at the Southwest Athletic Complex on Saturday as the second annual ISU Paintball Open began.

ISU Paintball Club president Nate Gordon said that yelling and hiding behind the bunkers is a form of strategy among the teammates.

“We yell to notify our teammates where the opponent is at and what bunker they are shooting at us from,” Gordon said. “Communication is the big thing, because if you know where people are at, it makes it a lot easier to focus on your shooting and easier to move between bunkers.”

Shawn Renshaw, sophomore in chemical engineering, agreed that communication is a key element in paintball tournaments.

“My voice usually feels fine after paintball,” Renshaw said. “But it can take some out of your voice if you play around 15 games, but not today.”

With approximately 200,000 paintballs fired, the sound of gunfire was in the air. Chris Figland, freshman in chemical engineering, said the number of shots depends on how good the competition is and if they are moving a lot.

Getting shot doesn’t hurt too badly, Renshaw added.

“We have elbow pads, knee pads and a mask on,” Renshaw said. “[The shots] would hurt if we didn’t have that protection.”

With 13 teams present, four teams made the finals. The ISU Gold team, consisting of Gordon, Figland, Dylan Connor, Jared Flater and Andrew Nugent, made the finals and earned third place. The ISU Red team of Thorsten Baldus, John Barney, Michael Pink, Renshaw and Nic Runkell narrowly missed the finals with a fifth-place finish.

Flater said that although all the teams were good competition, there was also another factor that made the open even more tough.

“The heat and the sun was the toughest for us. It’s tough when you have to deal with the sun,” Flater said. “Grand Valley State and Illinois were probably the toughest teams. [Grand Valley State] had the best sportsmanship all around, and they just played better than everyone else.”

Gordon said more practicing among his teammates will help the team as a whole in future tournaments.

“It is huge in paintball to know how people around you play; it’s basically a team aspect,” Gordon said. “Several people on our teams haven’t played together before, so that’s been kind of a struggle. You really can’t have a lot of singular people out there winning games. It takes a lot of teamwork.”

Pink said his team had difficulties.

“Most of our teams didn’t play well together — we’re just thrown together,” Pink said. “Now we are going to try and keep our teams together throughout the rest of the year.”

ISU paintball members were happy the open was in Ames.

“The main thing was that we didn’t have to travel,” Flater said. “We didn’t have to pay for a motel, drive and have to miss class. It was also good that we made some money. We bought the paint and sold it to the other teams.”

The ISU Paintball Open also brought fans to the Southwest Athletic Complex.

Jesse Ledin, freshman in pre-business, came to watch because he has been thinking about joining the club. He said the open is raising his attention.

“I played back at my home town and I want to get back into the routine,” Ledin said. “I want to meet some new people and it looks like everyone has a good time with the fun camaraderie. The members have also set up the arena very nice.”

Connor and Gordon said that any student, faculty and staff can come practice with the club.

“Everyone who comes gets to play,” Gordon said. “You don’t need your own supplies or money for paint. Just show up.”

The ISU Paintball Club will be back in action Oct. 9 at St. Mary’s University of Minnesota. On Oct. 29 the club will go to Florida to compete in the World Cup.

Photo Gallery