Pierce Robotics Competes at Great Planes Signature Event
By Brayden Suckstorf
The Pierce High robotics team, the Smooth Operators (team 71414A), traveled to the Strategic Air Command (SAC) & Aerospace Museum in Ashland, on September 26-27 to compete in the Great Planes Signature Event. Representing the Smooth Operators team were coach Treva Dostal, Sawyer Konert, Andrew Lienemann, and Makayla Shefl. Team member Brandon Thomsen was unable to attend the meet.
The two day tournament brought together a total of 62 teams from all over the United States. A signature event means the winners and the excellence award winner receive a spot at the VEX World Competition. Every team competed in nine qualifying matches made up of random partners competing against randomly drawn opponents. The qualifying standings were determined by wins/losses, win points, and other match-specific statistics. While facing the second hardest ranked schedule at the event, team 71414A still managed to finish 29th out of 62 teams.
The first match team 71414A was partnered with team 8151W out of Grand Island. They competed against team 1028B from Brownell-Talbot and 42824A from Washington state. Pierce ended up losing a close match 75-58.
“This was the first signature event Nebraska has ever hosted. It proved to be a very competitive event. Teams from all over the country brought their ‘A’ game for this early in the season. I am very proud of how the Smooth Operators overcame some tough losses to finish 5-4 in qualifying. The team learned so much from this event and already have begun the rebuild for the next event,” Dostal said.
In the next match, Pierce’s team was partnered with team 88909Y from California, and earned a win, making them 1-1 to start the tournament. They defeated teams 43280C out of Omaha and 5155E, from Stromsburg.
“We have spent months preparing for this match, starting our notebook in April and starting our drive train in May. Overall we started the season with a winning record going 5-4, and we learned a lot from this tournament both in gameplay and robotics in general. I am excited to see where this season will take us as we rebuild for our next match in November,” Shefl said.
In match three, the Smooth Operators lost another close one against teams 2147Z from California and 3141W from Bellevue. In this match, Pierce was paired with team 7862H from Kansas.
In the fourth match, Pierce lost 97-0 to a team from 1523C from Washington and 8151G out of Grand Island. Pierce was partnered with team UltraPink 355U from Illinois.
In the fifth match, the Smooth Operators lost another very close match, 61-58, to teams 12125A from California and 5069S from Millard North.
In the sixth match, the Smooth Operators turned things around and won this match and every match after this one. They shut down teams 295S from California and 1049Y from Omaha North, winning 95-3. In this match, Pierce was paired with team 1658S, also from California.
The seventh match went well too, winning 51-40, paired with team 929N from Maryland. The duo went against teams 17788F out of Valley and 1028X from Omaha.
Another match that went great was match eight, as Pierce was paired with team 40000A from Tennessee. They dominated and competed against teams 1000W from California and 98377R from Minnesota.
Last, but certainly not least, was match nine where they won 78-58. During this match they were teammates with team 2501T from Council Bluffs, Iowa. They competed against 66556Z from Arizona and 56160A out of Omaha.
“One of the biggest challenges that we had to fix was fixing the programming for the autonomous period. One of the highlights of the tournament was our interview with the judges at the end of the first day,” Konert said.
The next robotics event is on Saturday, November 8, where both Pierce teams will be traveling to Omaha Central to compete.
