On Saturday, Feb. 27, the Greenville Middle School VEX Robotics Team, the Gigabots, entered six robots in the North Texas VEX “Nothing But Net” Middle School State Regional Championship at Greenville High School. Every GMS team advanced to the Elimination Rounds and team 2148A finished as Tournament, and state, Champions.

Team 2148A, made up of Josh Allen, Austin Burns, Alex Portillo, Daniel Ugalde and Luis Ugalde, formed the number one alliance with team 7504, the Horseman, from Austin Academy for Excellence in Garland to become Tournament Champions. This was team 2148A’s seventh tournament win this season. They also were the Programming Skills Challenge Champion, which is earned by the top ranked team in the VRC Programming Skills Challenge, and were the Robot Skills Finalist, which is given to the second ranked team in the VRC Robot Skills Challenge.

Team 2148B, whose members are Ben Butcher, Jacob Linden, Sam Martin, Matthew McFarland and Landon Fry Rowland, finished the qualification matches in ninth place. They joined Team 8909F, McKamy Dunkin’ Robots from Flower Mound, to form the number five alliance. They finished the tournament in the Semi-Finals.

Team 2148H, whose team members are Elijah Wofford, Clay Gibson, Jonathan Hernandez, Caleb Johnson and Sistanas Stretch, finished the qualification matches in sixth place and  joined the Gigabots, Team 2148D, whose members are Jayce Dickeson, Corbin Hudgins, Corbin Row, Dulce Romero and Francisca Gutierrez, to finish the qualification matches in eleventh place and form the number four  alliance. They were tournament Quarterfinalists.

Team 2148C, whose members are Camden Priest, Wyatt Spivey, Kian Smith, Josue Adame and Jessi Molina, finished the qualification matches in fifteenth place. They joined Team 1201C, Digital Dynamics from Utley Middle School in Rockwall, to form the number eight alliance. They finished the tournament in the Quarter-Finals.

Team 2148E, whose team members are Dallas Davies, Noah Stone, Faith Clayton, Nick Stromberg and Kegan Rios, finished the qualification matches in thirteenth place. They joined 1201B, Digital Dynamics from Utley Middle School in Rockwall, to form the number seven alliance. They finished the tournament in the Quarter-Finals.

As State Tournament Champions, Team 2148A has qualified for the VEX World Championship – Middle School Division in Louisville, KY, April 20 -  23, 2016 and the CREATE U. S. Open Robotics Championship – VEX Middle School Division in Council Bluffs, Iowa beginning April 7, 2016.

For additional information about the Greenville Middle School VEX Robotics Program, email Johnny Tharp, Director of Robotics (Grades 1-8) at tharpjr@greenvilleisd.com or call (903) 408-4432.