The FIRST Robotics Seven Rivers Wisconsin District Event took place at the La Crosse Center from Thursday, April 2 – Saturday, April 4, featuring 33 high school teams from Wisconsin as well as a visiting team from Indiana. Ferradermis competed hard, going 9-2 in qualification matches and ranking 5th at the end of qualifications. The team played 12 total qualification matches but only earned ranking points for 11 of them because of a red card disqualification when our robot accidentally knocked over another robot during a match.
During alliance selections, Ferradermis moved up to become the captain of the #4 seeded alliance and invited Team 171 The Cheese Curd Herd from Platteville and Team 8782 TroBotics from New Auburn to join them for the playoffs. After victories over the #5 seed and #1 seed, Ferradermis was bumped to the lower portion of the double-elimination bracket by the #3 seed. They then lost their rematch with the #1 seeded alliance, the eventual champions, to end their weekend in third place overall.
Points earned from this competition combined with the previous competition at Lakeland College qualified the team to compete in the State Championship Event at Brookfield East High School from April 17-19. It is at the end of this event, that it will be determined which Wisconsin teams will represent the state in Houston for the World Championships.
Team members traveling to La Crosse included Chacha Binagi, Rae Breisath, Emilie Bruns, Asher Downs, Erison Dreksler, Georgia Esch, Alex Fletcher, Mason Genung, Vivian Harris, Nina Heim, Cooper Housel, Ace Hudec, Jayden Kehrer, Colby Long, Carson Miller, Preston Miller, Al Nelson, Sam Raupp, Julian Rennells, Johan Servin, Owen Taylor, Letty Trautman, Elora Wildermuth-Breitzman, Paxton Wilson, and Mily Zeferino-Hernandez.
In addition to competing on the field, several members volunteered to take shifts at the safety glass station, and seven students joined the team choir to perform the national anthem during opening ceremonies. Eight members served as team ambassadors, giving tours to VIPs. Students also rotated through scouting shifts, and the Impact Team presented for the judges. Team members staffed the team pit throughout the event, working on the robot between matches, talking with judges, and selecting the recipients of their pit awards. Safety Captain Nina Heim received the Safety All-Star Award based on nominations from other teams.
On the way to the event, students experienced a UW La Crosse campus tour, visited the Mississippi Valley Archeology Center as a tribute to this season’s archeology theme, stopped at the Dahl Auto Museum, and spent a couple of hours bowling, a team tradition.