The ISU Paintball Club blasted its way to a first-place tie in the National Collegiate Paintball Association’s ranking on Saturday at the Great Plains Intercollegiate Tournament. There were six teams present in Cameron, Mo., to participate in the event.

Among the participants were Northwest Missouri State, Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas, who were paired together for lack of players, and three ISU squads. Schools are allowed to bring more than one team to an event if desired.

“The weather was incredibly cold,” said Tim Rash, Paintball Club president. “The field was so muddy that our feet sunk in the ground.”

The tournament featured a round-robin format, with every team facing one another. The top four teams then competed against each other to determine the winner.

Rash says Iowa State dominated the competition, especially Nebraska. The three Cyclone squads — the red, gold and blue teams — finished first, second, and third, respectively.

“Our teams annihilated Nebraska,” Rash said. “The Red team completely destroyed them.”

The final score of the competition was Iowa State’s Red 210, Gold 152, Blue 56, and Nebraska 32 points.

Points are earned during the five-minute competition by capturing the middle flag (20 points), hanging the flag on the opposition’s side (50 points), eliminating an opposing player by marking them with paint (4 points), and getting points for every player remaining when time expires (2 points).

The Paintball Club originated in 1999 and began entering tournaments in 2000. Mike Ramsey, the Paintball Club’s tournament coordinator, has seen the club’s popularity increase dramatically during its first four years.

“We only had eight guys in the club three years ago when I joined,” Ramsey said. “Now we have around 200 people on the mailing list.”

Club members are branched into two categories, competitive members and recreational members. Competitive members play in either tournaments or practice situations, while the recreational members play simply for the fun of it. Tryouts for the competitive group are held every fall.

The 25 competitive members enter five tournaments. They begin in the fall and continue into the spring season. The Collegiate Paintball National Championship takes place at the end of the season. This year, more than 60 teams will compete at the nationals in Joliet, Ill., on April 12 at the Challenge Park Xtreme.

Recreation Services Director Mike Harvey said the Paintball Club has represented the university well by being extremely active in its short history.

“The [Government of the Student Body, Sports Club Council] and the Recreation Services are all supportive of this club,” Harvey said.

Despite the growing trend, one minor setback of paintball is the cost of playing. Rash said tournaments are a financial burden, not only to the club but also its members.

“Paintball is a very expensive sport,” he said. “Currently the average competitive member pays around $800 [per year], splitting the cost of entry fees, travel costs and paint.”

Rash further explained that the club received $150 from GSB this year, but help may be on the way. The club hopes to receive up to $1,800 next year.

With this in mind, a recent project that the Recreation Services and the Paintball Club have been working on is the creation of a paintball field on campus. The field would be located at the Southwest Athletic Complex.

“The plans are still in the developmental stage,” Harvey said. “We are discussing construction ideas and funding.”

Practice and tournaments would be held at the new field. Also, students and faculty of Iowa State will have access to the field, with rental equipment available.

The paintball team will be heading to the Northlands Intercollegiate Tournament next Saturday in Ramsey, Minn. This will be the last tournament before the Nationals.