VWHS Robotics teams qualify for state

VW independent/submitted information

Van Wert High School hosted the annual Northwest Ohio Regional Robotics Competition a few weeks ago; however, the sights and sounds were a little different this year as the teams competed entirely remotely.  

This year’s competition was appropriately named the COVID Classic Competition, with teams from around the state “Zooming” in via remote judging interviews on Friday night and Saturday morning. This year, teams compete solo and enter in their individual scores via a secure Internet site, with the winners being decided by which teams can score the highest overall score over six matches.

This season, Van Wert Team 5501 won the Design Award in its first event held remotely from Cincinnati and Team 14174 has been a finalist for several awards. In addition, Van Wert’s two high school teams competed in their third competition recently, the Kent State Qualifier, where both teams advanced to the State Championship competition after finishing with match scores high enough to be two of the five teams to advance from the tournament.  

The Van Wert High School robotics program is possible through the generous contributions of local businesses and companies. Central Insurance, Alliance Automation, Vancrest Health Care, Van Wert Federal Savings Bank, First Federal of Van Wert, Citizens National Bank, Statewide Ford, Miller Precision, and Tenneco are faithful sponsors each season to help the teams participate in FIRST Tech Challenges.

Team coaches Bob Spath and Zane McElroy also thanked the Van Wert County Foundation for its donation through the Flickinger Memorial Fund.