From left are Wesley Hays, Taylor Fiedeke, Evan Rassi, Evan Brower, Nathan Smith, Noah Beckner and Connor Byrd.

News Release

SYRACUSE — Coming off of a tournament win at Crown Point, the Wawasee Iron Pride came home with three trophies at the second tourney of the year Saturday, Nov. 14, at the Hardwood Teepee; two tournament champions and one robot skills.

Coach Jed Wandland said, “574C & D have hit the ground running. These two senior teams are on a path to set the pace for the entire world.”

All four Wawasee teams competed well enough to advance into elimination rounds. 574E (3-4-0, rank 14) fell in the round of 16. 574A (3-4-0, rank 12) powered on to quarterfinals. Top ranked 574C chose second ranked 574D for the first seeded alliance. They met the second seed alliance, third rank Wisconsin’s 4208B and fourth ranked Crown Point’s 1233A in the finals.

These four teams made metallic mayhem with evenly matched robots, ending with a 28-9 Wawasee win, qualifying 574C and D for the Indiana VEX Robotics State Championships.

In robot skills, 574D delivered a perfect driver score of 126 with six seconds to spare in the one minute time trial. This combined with a programming score of 72 for a total of 198, enabling a first place in robot skills at the tourney, a ranking of third in the state and 20th in the world.

“This is probably one of the most motivated groups of kids that I’ve ever had the privilege of coaching,” said Wandland. “Every competitor wants to be first in the world, but these kids have a step by step plan on how to do it.”

All teams were required to follow COVID precautions and social distancing as per school, county and state guidelines. Only coaches, team members and essential volunteers were allowed to attend. Spectators were able to watch on Wawasee Schools’ YouTube channel CPG-TV. The feed can be found here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_12vgMfcSU or by searching for “Iron Pride” on YouTube.

Team results:

574C — Tournament champion, first place qualifier, state qualifier, fifth robot skills

574D — Tournament champion, robot skills champion, second place qualifier, state qualifier

574A — 12th place qualifier, round of 16

574E — 14th place qualifier, 12th robot skills, quarterfinals

Wawasee’s roster:

574A — Theo Frick, Josh Lesko, Haley Bartels

574B — Vanessa Wright

574C — Evan Rassi, Taylor Fiedeke, Evan Brower

574D — Noah Beckner, Wesley Hays, Nathan Smith, Conner Byrd

574E — Charlie Krull, Sydni Ewing, Alan Warren, Harry Doss

The next tournament is Saturday, Dec. 19, at Jay County High School. Spectators are not allowed due to COVID health requirements.