Manawatu Titans (New Zealand Paintball Team)

Manawatu Titans is a New Zealand tournament paintball team based in Feilding. The team is associated with Arena Paintball and has competed in New Zealand, Australia and the United States. Its documented results include winning the Semi-Pro X-Ball division at the 2022 National Xball League Golden State Open.[1][2]

History

New Zealand competition

Manawatu Titans was active by 2020. In an interview published by Tahiti Infos in October 2022, Tahitian player Ralph Tsing recalled joining the team for a round of a New Zealand championship in 2020 and winning the event.[3] The event name and complete results have not been recovered, so this result remains attributed to Tsing's account.

The team's PBLeagues profile was registered on 23 November 2021. The profile identifies Feilding as its home town and Arena Paintball as its associated field.[1] This is the date of the database registration rather than a confirmed founding date.

Arena Paintball's official website states that the Feilding venue is operated by members of “The Titans” and describes the team as having competed in New Zealand and overseas.[4]

United States competition

Manawatu Titans entered the Semi-Pro X-Ball division of the American National Xball League during 2022.

The team finished tenth of eleven entries at the 2022 Lone Star Open before winning the seven-team Semi-Pro division at the Golden State Open on 5–7 August.[1][2] Manawatu Titans defeated Austin Notorious 4–3 in the semifinal and PaintballFIT.com 4–3 in the final.[2]

At the 2022 NXL World Cup, the team finished eighth of eighteen Semi-Pro entries. It placed tenth in the overall 2022 Semi-Pro season standings.[1][5]

Manawatu Titans contested all five principal NXL events during 2023. Its results were seventeenth at the Sunshine State Major, fifteenth at the Lone Star Major, sixteenth at the Mid-Atlantic Major, twenty-first at the Windy City Major and fifteenth at the World Cup.[1] The team finished fourteenth in the 2023 NXL Semi-Pro season standings with 280.01 ranking points.[6]

The team returned to the World Cup in 2024, finishing twenty-first of twenty-three entries in Division 2 X-Ball.[1]

At the 2025 World Cup, Manawatu Titans finished twenty-second of twenty-three teams in Semi-Pro X-Ball. A separate Manawatu Titans entry finished ninth of twelve in Pro X-Ball.[1]

Australian competition

Manawatu Titans competed in the Professional division at the 2022 Super 7's Planet Eclipse Open in Sydney, finishing fourth of nine teams. Ralph Tsing was named the tournament's best player.[3]

The team returned to the Australian Super 7's Professional division for the opening round of the 2024 season. It received 28 ranking points, the second-highest allocation for the round, and did not record points in the remaining three rounds.[7]

Players and personnel

The following people are listed on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile or identified by another cited source.[1][3] Inclusion in the profile does not establish participation at every tournament, and the table does not reproduce PBLeagues registration statistics.

Name	Documented role	Evidence
Aidan Donnelly	Player	Listed as a player on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile.[1]
Blake Christison	Player	Listed as a player on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile.[1]
Brandon Clement	Player	Listed as a player on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile.[1]
Daniel Lincoln	Player	Listed as a player on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile.[1]
David Aull	Player	Listed as a player on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile.[1]
Harry Schmidt	Player	Listed as a player on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile.[1]
Hunter Hopkins	Player	Listed as a player on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile.[1]
Hyrum Modlik	Player	Listed as a player on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile.[1]
Ivan Christison	Player	Listed as a player on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile.[1]
Jake Wheeler	Player	Listed as a player on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile.[1]
Jakub Bielski	Player	Listed as a player on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile.[1]
Jason Wheeler	Player	Listed as a player on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile.[1]
Matthew Kling	Player	Listed as a player on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile; no event appearance is displayed.[1]
Rory Blizard	Player	Listed as a player on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile.[1]
Stephen Mazurek	Player	Listed as a player on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile.[1]
Thomas Hopkins	Player	Listed as a player on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile.[1]
Tom Van Lierop	Player	Listed as a player on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile.[1]
Ralph Tsing	Guest player	Identified as playing for Manawatu Titans in New Zealand during 2020 and in Australia during 2022.[3]
Brad Medes	Staff	Listed as staff on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile and interviewed in connection with the team in 2023.[1][8]
Brandon Short	Staff	Listed as staff on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile.[1]
Brian Morris	Staff	Listed as staff on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile.[1]
Caroline Smith	Staff	Listed as staff on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile.[1]
Daniel Hedges	Staff	Listed as staff on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile.[1]
David Hopkins	Staff	Listed as staff on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile.[1]
David Filippone	Staff	Listed as staff on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile.[1]
Kennon Smith	Staff	Listed as staff on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile.[1]
Kerim Salih	Staff	Listed as staff on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile; no event appearance is displayed.[1]
Matt Medes	Staff	Listed as staff on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile.[1]
Matthew Schmidt	Staff	Listed as staff on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile.[1]
Mia Marchisello	Staff	Listed as staff on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile.[1]
Ryan Greenspan	Staff	Listed as staff on the Manawatu Titans PBLeagues profile; no event appearance is displayed.[1]

Selected tournament results

Year	Tournament	Country	Division	Result
2020	Unidentified New Zealand championship round	New Zealand	Not stated	1st, reported by Ralph Tsing
2022	NXL Lone Star Open	United States	Semi-Pro X-Ball	10th of 11
2022	NXL Golden State Open	United States	Semi-Pro X-Ball	1st of 7
2022	Super 7's Planet Eclipse Open	Australia	Professional	4th of 9
2022	NXL World Cup	United States	Semi-Pro X-Ball	8th of 18
2022	NXL season standings	United States	Semi-Pro X-Ball	10th overall
2023	NXL Sunshine State Major	United States	Semi-Pro X-Ball	17th of 26
2023	NXL Lone Star Major	United States	Semi-Pro X-Ball	15th of 24
2023	NXL Mid-Atlantic Major	United States	Semi-Pro X-Ball	16th of 25
2023	NXL Windy City Major	United States	Semi-Pro X-Ball	21st of 24
2023	NXL World Cup	United States	Semi-Pro X-Ball	15th of 26
2023	NXL season standings	United States	Semi-Pro X-Ball	14th overall
2024	Super 7's Round 1	Australia	Professional	28 ranking points
2024	NXL World Cup	United States	Division 2 X-Ball	21st of 23
2025	NXL World Cup	United States	Semi-Pro X-Ball	22nd of 23
2025	NXL World Cup	United States	Pro X-Ball	9th of 12

Practice registrations and PBLeagues administrative statuses are excluded from the table.

References

Manawatu Titans team profile and history, PBLeagues.
2022 Golden State Open official scores, PBLeagues.
Philippe Collignon, “As de la gâchette, le Tahitien Ralph Tsing brille en Australie”, Tahiti Infos, 10 October 2022.
About Arena Paintball, Arena Paintball.
2022 National Xball League season rankings, PBLeagues.
2023 National Xball League season rankings, PBLeagues.
Super 7's historical results, Super 7's Paintball.
“EP: 103 Brad Medes of the Manawatu Titans”, Overshot: A Paintball Podcast, February 2023.

External links