Weiser High School VEX Robotics team competes in second tourney

by Nicole Miller

 The Weiser High School VEX Robotics team recently competed at their second tournament of the year at Ridgevue High School on Jan. 7. Three Weiser teams competed in a pool of 33 teams from all over the Treasure Valley. Weiser performed well overall. 

 The Wolverine teams include:  Team 9551A - HIVE: Jayden Anderson, Ezra Burkhart, Xzavier Gonzales, William Stallings, and David Hicks.  Team 9551B - SLUG: Mason Brush, Kian Hartley, Logan Rasmussen, and Jonathan McLaughlin. Team 9551E - Team EARL: Kade Hill, Ryan Glenn, Austin Mosley, Ryan Ellingson, and Cody Robinson. 

 Team 9551A - HIVE:  placed second out of the 33 teams in the qualification round. During the tournament part of the bracket, they were able to choose another Weiser team, SLUG, as their partners. The group lost in the quarterfinals. 

 Team SLUG had placed ninth in the qualification round before partnering with Team HIVE for the tournament, 

 Team 9551E - EARL did not do as well in the qualification round, with a 21st place finish.  But, they paired well with their tournament partners and rallied to make it to the semi-finals where they lost a close match.

 All three WHS teams finished in the top 16 teams. Team 9551E - EARL lost in the semi-finals to finish in the top eight teams.

  This year’s VEX Robotics Competition is “Tipping Point.” 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. 

 The scoring system is complicated as rings scored on an alliance mobile goal will count for the respective alliance, regardless of where it ends the match. However, rings scored on neutral goals will only count for an alliance if the mobile goal ends the match in their home zone. 

 Lungberg shard that all the teams showed good improvement from the first tournament and they are now preparing for their next tournament at Vallivue High School on Feb. 4. 

 “I am so proud of these robotics students. The improvement in their robots from our last tournament is amazing. Weiser can be proud of their efforts, attitude, and the classy way they represented our town, school, and their families,” Lundberg said.