On Jan. 27, multiple members of Wahlert’s Future Tech Challenge (FTC) Club stood in the parking lot of McDonalds. They weren’t there to buy food, however. Instead, they stood there in anticipation for the day ahead. That day, they would be participating in a regional qualifier for FTC in DeWitt, Iowa.  

On Jan. 27, multiple members of Wahlert’s Future Tech Challenge (FTC) Club stood in the parking lot of McDonalds. They weren’t there to buy food, however. Instead, they stood there in anticipation for the day ahead. That day, they would be participating in a regional qualifier for FTC in DeWitt, Iowa.

FTC focuses on having students create and program robots for competitions. Each year, the competitions come with a theme, this year being an adventure theme.

Wahlert has two teams that participate in FTC, team 7400, nicknamed the Kryptonian Eagles, and team 9025, the Crest.

The teams had prepared for the competition for months.  Both teams brought some of the best engineers and robot drivers they could. Team 7400 brought Aiden Greiner, ‘19, Tony Montag, ‘21, and Jarret Tranel, ‘18. Team 9025 brought Emily Gehling, ‘18, Luke O’Connell, ‘19, Alejandro Rojas,Noah Stran, Daniel Reich and Roni Skinner ‘20, who is not a Wahlert student.

Wahlert started the day off represented by 9025. The leaderboard was updated in live time. They spent a majority of the day in the top ten. Reich and O’Connell said “It’s awesome being in the top ten, ahead of some of the best teams here.”

Team 7400 was not so fortunate because of some problems with the robot itself. Regardless of ranking, both teams put in the their full effort during playtime.

Everyone was in good spirits going into the afternoon. If they managed to get and remain in the top twelve of the leaderboard, they would progress to the next round, which would be held  the following week. There they would have the chance to go the global competition if they succeeded.

Fate was not on either teams’ side, however. Team 9025 started to have mechanical problems, and they ultimately dropped in ranking. Team 7400 continued to have  mechanical problems and could not fix their robot either. Both teams ended the day in 14th and 16th respectively.

Despite their difficulties, members of both teams made it clear that there is plenty of room for improvement.

“Today was awesome. Even though we didn’t move on, it was still really fun,” said Reich.

This year sees the end for multiple members on both sides, but for those remaining, it’s all about coming back next year and trying to win.

FTC focuses on having students create and program robots for competitions. Each year, the competitions come with a theme, this year being an adventure theme.

Wahlert has two teams that participate in FTC, team 7400, nicknamed the Kryptonian Eagles, and team 9025, the Crest.

The teams had prepared for the competition for months.  Both teams brought some of the best engineers and robot drivers they could. Team 7400 brought Aiden Greiner, ‘19, Tony Montag, ‘21, and Jarret Tranel, ‘18. Team 9025 brought Emily Gehling, ‘18, Luke O’Connell, ‘19, Alejandro Rojas,Noah Stran, Daniel Reich and Roni Skinner ‘20, who is not a Wahlert student.

Wahlert started the day off represented by 9025. The leaderboard was updated in live time. They spent a majority of the day in the top ten. Reich and O’Connell said “It’s awesome being in the top ten, ahead of some of the best teams here.”

Team 7400 was not so fortunate because of some problems with the robot itself. Regardless of ranking, both teams put in the their full effort during playtime.

Everyone was in good spirits going into the afternoon. If they managed to get and remain in the top twelve of the leaderboard, they would progress to the next round, which would be held  the following week. There they would have the chance to go the global competition if they succeeded.

Fate was not on either teams’ side, however. Team 9025 started to have mechanical problems, and they ultimately dropped in ranking. Team 7400 continued to have  mechanical problems and could not fix their robot either. Both teams ended the day in 14th and 16th respectively.

Despite their difficulties, members of both teams made it clear that there is plenty of room for improvement.

“Today was awesome. Even though we didn’t move on, it was still really fun,” said Reich.

This year sees the end for multiple members on both sides, but for those remaining, it’s all about coming back next year and trying to win.