FORT WAYNE – A Wawasee Middle School robotics team took second place in the robotic design category Saturday at state competition of the FIRST Lego® League at IPFW. The Wawasee “Fire Beetles” team of Braxton Studebaker, Jack Collins, Ryan Zorn and Clay Kelsheimer captured the trophy because of their robot’s innovative programming, according to coach Ryan Edgar. The Wawasee team had programmed their robot to use a light censor after their mission to find a road and follow the road to a certain destination. The judges thought that was cool, Edgar said. Only the top two teams overall advanced past state, Edgar said, based on several categories and the robot game. However, he said Wawasee didn’t fare so well at state in the robot game so would not be advancing. Since it was Wawasee’s first time to state competition, Edgar said it opened up their eyes as to what it takes to get to state. All teams at state got participation medals. With the second-place award in the robotic design category, Edgard said the Fire Beetles also received a trophy built entirely of Legos. “For our first time being there, our kids had a good time and learned a lot from our experience,” Edgar said. Two teams from Wawasee Middle School and two from Edgewood Middle School qualified for Saturday’s state competition after competing Nov. 23 at the FIRST Lego® League tournament at Grace College, Winona Lake.
