574A, Allison Stookey, Andrea Mickley and Sydni Ewing (not pictured), won the judges award at the Region Robotics Rumble in Portage Saturday, impressing the judges with their team interview skills.

PORTAGE — Wawasee Iron Pride took it down to the wire at the Region Robotics Rumble Robotics Tournament Saturday, Dec. 14, in Portage.

The day was a triumph as three teams brought home trophies. 574F (rank 31, 2-3-1) and 574H (rank 46, 1-5-0) fought hard in the qualification rounds. 574A (rank 17, 4-2-0) was an alliance captain, choosing 1233X from Crown Point for the elimination rounds, competing together in the round of 16. They also had an amazing day bringing home the judges award, for their team interview skills. 574C (rank 9, 5-1-0) drove all the way to the final match, taking down 574D (rank 5, 5-1-0) in a low-scoring and highly defensive match (34-9) of metallic mayhem with robots parts flying across the Portage gym, to win the tournament champion trophy with their alliance partner, 2567K, from Portage.

574D brought home the robot skills trophy with a team best score of 103, ranking them fourth in the state and 27th in the world for skills.

After the Christmas break, the next tournament, the Kalahari Classic, is Friday, Jan. 17, at Kalahari Resorts Sandusky, 7000 Kalahari Drive, Sandusky, Ohio. This is a two-day event ending Jan. 18. Opening ceremonies are at 11 a.m. Jan. 17, qualifying starts at noon. Qualifications continue at 8 a.m. Jan. 18, finals at 1:15 p.m., awards and closing ceremonies to follow.

Team results:

574D Immortal — skills champion, fifth place qualifier, first robot skills, fourth in state and 27th in the world in skills — Noah Beckner, Jack Collins, Wesley Hays, Nathan Smith

574C Centurion — tourney champion, ninth place qualifier, second robot skills — Evan Rassi, Taylor Fiedeke, Evan Brower

574A Amazon — judges trophy, 17th place qualifier, 21st robot skills — Andrea Mickley, Allison Stookey, Sydni Ewing

574F Barbarian — 31st place qualifier — Vanessa Wright, Jackson Coverstone, Bailey Smith

574H Samurai (middle school) — 46th place qualifier, 27th robot skills — Charlie Krull, Michael Wippel, Alan Warren

Highlights:

574C and 574D couldn’t team up in alliance selection. They were picked by the first and second place teams from qualifying. Leading to a phenomenal finals match with amazing defense and offense.

574H – Middle school team, making great strides and achieved their highest skills score placing them seventh in the state.

574C – 103 skills score, ranked fourth in state for high school.

574A – Stacking three blocks and a well-thought strategy during alliance selection declining the first defensive team that picked them to pair up with an offensive team from another school.

574F – Beating 574D in their last qualification match, forcing 574D to 5-1.