Iron-Patriots Wagyu makes it to division semifinals at Vex Robotics World Championships

WHEELING – A robotics team from Wheeling Park High School proved Saturday they could compete well among the best in the world.

Iron-Patriots Wagyu made it to the semifinals in their 82-team division before ending their journey at the Vex Robotics World Championship at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Center in Dallas, Texas.

Ohio County Schools has only been participating in robotics for three seasons, and It was the best showing yet of an Ohio County team at the international competition.

Members of Iron Patriots-Wagyu are Ethan Matz, Christopher Alkouri, Khadija Rizwan and Isaac Garrison. Their coach is Luke Shepherd.

In the initial qualifying rounds, the team finished fourth among the 82 competitors in the “Spirit” division of the world championships. It was the best showing ever in the qualifying rounds by an Ohio County school, according to JoJo Shay, innovation coordinator for Ohio County Schools.

Iron Patriots-Wagyu’s high showing in the qualifiers then gave them fourth pick in the alliance selection process, where they select a team in their division with whom to partner in the remainder of the competition. They chose the Hope Robotics team from Hope County, Tennessee.

Two other WPHS teams at the world championships, Team Yikes and Team X-Ray, did not advance beyond the qualifying round. Yikes competed in the “Research” division, with X-Ray in the “Design” division.

There are 820 high school teams competing at the Vex World Robotics Championships, and they are divided into 10 divisions.

The teams are assigned randomly to one of 10 divisions, and the winners from each division squared off “in the dome” Saturday night to become world champions.

Following the qualifying round, there is an elimination round consisting of 16 alliances – or 32 teams.

Iron Patriots-Wagyu and their Hope, Tennessee partners “lost a nail-biter” in the semi-final round to an alliance with teams from Broadview Heights, Ohio and Redmond, Washington, Shay reported.

“What a fabulous season,” Shay said. “It’s been a fabulous year of learning and growth across all 19 teams of OCS robotics. We’re so very proud of the dedication, time, and ingenuity that our students put into every day of this season. We’re grateful for our coaches, our parents, administration, and the community that continue to support our ability to offer this kind and caliber of program. We are proud of the teams who represented us at Worlds as amazing people and competitors.

“A huge congratulations to Wagyu on an electrifying run up through the division semifinals! They and our other teams have definitely put OCS Robotics on the competitive robotics map.”

The middle school competition at the Vex Robotics World Championship Buckets starts Sunday and Ohio County Schools has two middle school teams in the running. The teams are the Buckets from Bridge Street Middle School and the Roboraiders from Triadelphia Middle School.

In addition, there are two other teams from Sherrard Middle School in Marshall County – Lil’ Squirtz and George Drinks Water – that have made the trip.