The Bellefontaine Middle School Robotics team put together a stellar showing at the final meeting of the Central Ohio Robotics League at North Union on Thursday night, Feb. 13.
Since November, 20 robotics teams from Central Ohio have been gathering at North Union to compete in this year’s VEX Robotics competition, High Stakes.
At each event, teams prove their skills through match play and programmed skills runs. This culminated in a playoff style tournament and judged interviews to earn coveted awards and spots in the Ohio State Robotics Competition in March.
BMS Team 7865 B (It’s Whatever) partnered with AWG from Highland Middle School for the Number 1 seed.
Team 7865 B It’s Whatever members are Chloe O’Chocke, Greyson Huffman, Charlie Moreland and Max Miranda.
BMS Team 7865 F (Banana Boys) and 7865 X (X Force) partnered together for the fifth seed.
BMS Teams 7865 C (BBQ) and 7865 A (Straight As) also competed in the tournament but lost in the quarterfinals.
X Force and Banana Boys made it to the semifinals but lost to the alliance of It’s Whatever and AWG.
In the finals, It’s Whatever put together a dominant showing winning the match 41 to 14 earning them and their alliance partner the tournament champions.
It’s Whatever also won the skills tournament with a combined programmed and driver total of 64, which places them as Number 1 in the state.
On the judged side of the night, X Force was awarded the Innovate Award for creating and documenting a unique part of their robot’s design.
It’s Whatever won the top judged award, the Excellence Award, at the event by creating a solid engineering notebook tracking their progress through the season and using effective collaboration and communication of their trials and achievements during an interview with engineering professionals.
The BMS teams are coached by Jordan Reser.
Saturday, Feb. 15, Bellefontaine City Schools Robotics will host Showdown at the Peak at Bellefontaine High School. The tournament runs from approximately 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and is free and open to the public to attend.
“Everyone is welcome to come and see the talent and skill of these student engineers,” Coach Reser said.