UCHS Robotics Team Wins Weekend Tournament

A big win Saturday for the Robotics team.

, along with their alliance partners from Hazelwood Central HS and the Camdenton, MO 4H club, won the 2011 St. Louis Regional FRC tournament at the Chaifetz Arena on the campus of St. Louis University.

"We did it," yelled Walter Deitzler, an 8th grader at Brittany Woods Middle School, as he pumped his fist into the air. The Robo-lions will go on to compete in the FIRST World Championships next month (April 27-30) at the Edward Jones Dome. The event is free and open to the public.

"This is a significant win," said Boeing engineer and mentor Brandon Wegge. "It's a big deal. These are gold medals for a reason," he said, pointing to the gold medal around his neck that team members, coaches and mentors were awarded. 

"The challenges aren't toys. They (the students) did real engineering to make this work,"added Rowland Dodson, also a mentor and Boeing engineer.

"Robotics is awesome," said Grace Deitlzer as she danced along with her teammates to the music playing in the auditorium. "It's a very fun event, so there's not a lot of stress." This is the team's second year in competition.

Last year, the Robo-lions made it to the semi-finals before being knocked out.

To learn more about the Robo-lions visit their blog at  http://www.robolions3397.blogspot.com/.