The IGNITE Institute’s Robotics team members were crowned world champions following the international VEX World Robotics Championship in Dallas, Texas last weekend.
A team from Covington Catholic finished in second place.
IGNITE’s team, PiBotics, triumphed over more than 800 groups representing 40 countries for the world championship. The competition began with more than 20,000 registered teams, which whittled down to 818 competitors for the international stage.
PiBotics went undefeated in 10 rounds of qualifying matches. The team secured victory in the quarter-final and semi-final to reach the best-of-three division final. The team lost the first match in the division final 155 to 153 and made a comeback in the second and third rounds. They advanced to the Grand Elimination Bracket, which featured all 10 division winners.
They soon advanced and found themselves in another best-of-three match. While other matches were hard-fought, this victory was secured by a wide margin. The PiBotics won their final match 224 to 95, taking the world championship title.
According to a press release from Boone County Schools, “the Grand Elimination was held in a 10,000 seat domed arena that had an absolute rock concert atmosphere and was filled with screaming fans.”
IGNITE’s world champions in robotics include Ben Hartline, Anna Engelman, Daniel Wood, and McKenzie Koch.
One CovCath team, “The Housecats,” finished in second place overall at the World Tournament.
The team consisted of seniors Ethan Conrad and Grant Fischer and juniors Thomas Frondorf and Ben Scheffter.
Four other Covington Catholic teams also competed.