Robotics Team Qualifies for State at O’Neill Competition
by Ella Gaes
The robotics team placed first as they traveled to O’Neill High School for the O'Neill Eagles VEX Robotics Tournament where they competed in their third competition this season on Saturday, January 15. They went up against 25 teams.
Pierce took two teams that both included different robots. The first team was named 71414A and called ATOM13 and included Nicholas Lienemann, Tate Reinke, Matthew Steffen, Dalton Svoboda. The second team was named 71414B and called themselves Used Scrap, included members Bo Bockelman, Aubrey Hanson, Camden Jansen, Noah Jones, Brentyn Rampone and Elijah Streff.
Coach Treva Dostal comments, “I am extremely proud of both teams. This was the first competition for Used Scrap. Their robot held up well and they were very competitive during the day. ATOM13 earned a spot at the state tournament which is quite an accomplishment. Robotics teams from across the state are top notch and earning this spot is a testament to the long hours and hard work this team has put in to achieve this goal.”
VEX Robotics Competition Tipping Point is played on a 12’x12’ square field. Two alliances – one “red” and one “blue” – composed of two teams each, compete in matches consisting of a :15 autonomous period, followed by a 1:45 driver controlled period.
The object of the game is to attain a higher score than the opposing Alliance by scoring rings, moving mobile goals to alliance zones, and by elevating on platforms at the end of a match.
In the qualifying rounds ATOM13 finished third and Used Scrap finished 11th. Each team competed in seven matches. Teams then draft partners based on qualifying ranking to compete in the single elimination tournament.
Used Scrap paired with We Showed Up from Ravenna and lost in the quarterfinals to the ATOM13/Spare Parts combo 136-72.
ATOM13 paired with a Spare Parts team from Cross County in Stromsburg. The championship match was tight to the end and came down to a count of rings. ATOM13/Spare Parts defeated the pairing of In Transit from Gross Catholic in Omaha and Hip Hop Anonymous from Cross County to have a final score of 165-149.
Member of the state qualifying team, Svoboda, commented, “I would like to apologize… to absolutely no one, especially not 5155A. I’m glad how the day went though. To be honest, I was shaky but over the course of the day, I became more confident in the robot and in my controls. I’m actually glad we lost a match in the qualifying so we could end up with Dane from Cross County. He was a cool guy and I couldn’t have been happier to alliance with him and his team. [I] can’t wait to go to state.”
This win qualified ATOM13 for the 2022 Nebraska State HS Robotics Championships tournament to be held in Cross County on March 4-5, 2022.
The next competition for Pierce’s robotics teams will be Saturday, February 19 at the Falcon "Ka-Kaw" Tipping Point High School Robotics Tournament in Valley.
