574H Evan Brower and Charlie Krull and 574G Brian Schlabach. Team 574H was awarded the Middle School Excellence Award Feb. 9 and has earned their spot to compete at the Indiana Vex State Robotics Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium March 9.

FAIRLAND — Saturday, Feb. 16, at Triton Central in Fairland, Wawasee had five teams in the top seven at the end of qualifying, with nine teams making it into the elimination rounds. 574N in seventh place, had their highest finish. “The quality of competition that the Iron Pride is bringing is increasing,” said coach Jed Wandland.

Saturday, Feb. 23, will see the last three tourneys in Indiana before the state robotics tournament March 9. The “back door” qualification for state is going to be hot. Skills scores will be used to fill in the remaining open spots at the state tournament. “We are predicting a minimum score of a 19 will be needed to get a back door invite to state,” said coach Julie Hays. “You can expect a number of Iron Pride teams will be working on programming to improve their score.”

574C won the highest award given, the excellence award and was also robot skills winner. This is the third and 10th times respectively 574C has won these trophies. The robot skills award has been won by Team C 10 times in a row.

The finals saw nine of Wawasee’s 13 teams competing. 574C and 574D were top seed and powered through to the finals. The C & D alliance were disqualified on a controversial referee decision losing to 6210W and 6210X (0-5). 574D allegedly used aggressive tipping against 6210W. 6210W’s robot is top heavy and easily tips.

The rules set forth by the Robotics Education and Competition Foundation state a normal amount of bumping and blocking in regular play is expected and robots should be designed accordingly. “Their robot’s shortcomings should not be the grounds for which our alliance is disqualified,” said Wesley Hays, 574D team member. 574D & C were not allowed to discuss the decision with the referee. “Our reputation as incredible competitors worked against us with the referee’s call,” stated Wandland. “We can expect that some referees will view us as having an unfair advantage, so in situations where a robot tips over, we can naturally be viewed as aggressors. We have to find ways to avoid even the appearance of egregious play.”

Wawasee Iron Pride Robotics final regular season tournament will be at Crown Point High School, Feb. 23. The address is CPHS Field House, 1500 S. Main St., Crown Point. There is no cost for admission. Opening ceremonies at 9:15 a.m., qualifying starts at 9:30 a.m., finals approximately 3 p.m.

Tourney highlights:

574P ran their first skills run, placed in the top 64 percent in the world, 81st in the state

574N finished seventh in qualifications, their highest finish this year

574A increased their skills score by one point, moving them to 1203rd in the world, 56th in the state

574C added another excellence and robot skills to their collection, increasing their trophy count to 24

Nine of 13 Iron Pride Teams made it into finals

574N programmed a working auton

574M received an interview by the judges. Getting interviewed by judges is a often reflection of quality of your engineering notebook.

Teams 574G, B, F, and P competed with only one team member present Saturday, and were supported by other Iron Pride teams.

574E Alliance Buster, denied three times for alliance in finals, this strategic alliance selection succeeded in breaking up multiple power alliances and made elimination rounds far more interesting and exciting

574C won robot skills for the 10th tourney in a row

574M despite regular disconnects, kept smiling and managed to finish fourth in qualifications

574D & 574C showed great self control, dignity and grace while facing disqualification in the finals match

574A Joey Sunday and Andrew Cotton built 574P a puncher from scratch

574N Keegan Cook stood match side with many team members who were their only team representatives, lending support

574G and 574H (first year teams) were paired together in qualifications and achieved a powerful victory, showing how far they have come this year

574K helping 574B with auton

Round of 16 –

574C and 574D blanked 1115Z and 2719Z (36-0). 491X and 6842A won over 6078Z and 6078S (29-1). 574M and 574A lost to 1115A and 323Z (4-35). 491A and 99904A beat 323D and 574F (26-9). 2719D and 323Y won against 574B and 574H (27-5). 1115B and 1483J were beaten by 1483A and 1483S (13-19). 574N and 6210V were defeated by 6210W and 6210X (8-30). 574E and 1115D beat 99904C and 6842C (29-10).

Quarterfinals —

574C and 574D won over 491X and 6842A (31-5). 1115A and 323Z were beaten by 491A and 99904A (10-23). 2719D and 323Y lost to 1483A and 1483S (14-17). 574E and 1115D were defeated by 6210 and 6210X (6-33).

Semifinals —

574C and 574D beat 491A and 99904A (19-15). 1483A and 1483S lost to 6210W and 6210X (2-37).