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Cleveland Teams Win State Championship!

Posted on May 12, 2024, by J Bradshaw.

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From start to finish this past weekend’s FIRST® in Ohio Robotics State Championship was a BLAST!  The tournament was filled with heart-stopping moments and dramatic come-from-behind finishes that left the audience on the edge of their seats.  The event, featuring 32 of the top-performing FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC) teams from across the “Buckeye” state, was livestreamed worldwide via Twitch TV!  

Among the 32 featured teams were four of the six Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) high school robotics teams supported by the Great Lakes Science Center’s Robotics Initiative.  All four teams did well during the qualifications matches, consistently demonstrating their programming prowess, the skill and abilities of their robot drive teams, and the unique capabilities of each of their competition robots.

This season’s engineering design challenge was called “CRESCENDOSM”, a music-themed “game.”  The game involves two alliances (one Red, the other Blue) consisting of three teams each competing to perform various tasks with their Robot Performers, including scoring ring-shaped game pieces (resembling whole notes from a musical scale) into speakers and amplifiers, and using hanging chains to climb onstage at the end of the match to “sing” in harmony!

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At the end of the qualification matches, the top 8 seeded teams became “Alliance Captains” and each had an opportunity to form a 4-team alliance from the field of competitors. These eight alliances then go on to compete in a “Double-Elimination” playoff format until the final round, where to two remaining alliances play a “best 2-of-3 series” to determine the Tournament Champion. While none of the Cleveland teams ranked high enough to become an Alliance captain, their on-field performance garnered much praise and they were all quickly selected to join an alliance.

• Team #8140, the RoboManiacs of MC2 STEM High School, was selected as a member of the #8 Alliance that was eliminated from the tournament during the second round of the playoffs. They finished the tournament tied for 7th place.

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• Team #9622, the rookie team known as GRIDLOCK from Garret Morgan School of Engineering & Innovation, was selected as a member of the #7 Alliance that advanced to the fourth round of the playoffs before being eliminated. They finished the tournament in 4th place.

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• Team #8145, the Tech Warriors of East Technical High School, and Team #8243, the Astro Circuits of John Marshall School of Information Technology, were both selected as members of the #1 Alliance that swept through the playoffs undefeated. These teams, and their alliance partners (Team #1787 – The Flying Circuits from Pepper Pike and Team #4028 – the Beak Squad from Cincinnati) were named the 2024 FIRSTâ in Ohio, Robotics State Champions, and each received a tournament trophy and tournament banner to proudly display at their school and in their Pit at future competitions.

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To say that the kids were excited would be an understatement.  As soon as the final score was announced, all of the CMSD students from the GLSC Robotics Initiative rushed from the stands to join the members of their sister team at the Driver’s Station.  The students were singing, dancing, hugging one another, and chanting the names of their coaches and mentors!  There were smiles, and tears of joy streaming down their cheeks.  Event officials had a difficult time getting the students to stop celebrating long enough to hold the closing award ceremony.

While all four of the CMSD teams did extremely well, it is the performance of Team 8145 deserves special recognition. They were the real “Cinderella Story” of the tournament.  The Tech Warriors were a last-minute substitution, filling in for another team that was unable to attend the tournament.  The team had already begun dismantling the robot thinking their season was over when they received the late-night call saying they were in!  The team hustled to re-assemble their robot, and with the help of the Great Lakes Science Center, they were able to raise the funds to cover the registration, travel, and hotel fees associated with the event.  The team’s drivers and operators skillfully piloted their machine throughout the playoffs, contributing to their Alliance's success.  While their well-constructed, swerve-drive-equipped, robot was able to deliver crucial scores when needed, it was their brilliant defense that helped their alliance win the title!

Congratulations to all the teams of the Great Lakes Science Center’s Robotics Initiative for an outstanding season! You have made Cleveland proud!