Wisconsin Recap

[RyanShoff]

4143 had a great time. We love the Wisconsin regional, but man is it hard. Our performance exceeded our expectations. We missed all our practice matches Thursday and didn't get a 30 point climb until our 4th match on Friday. Haven't missed one since.

Thanks to 706 for being our partner two years in a row. I'm all for making it three in a row.

It was pretty cool getting to pick last year's world champion 16 to be in an alliance. You guys are great. You brought a lot to our alliance. Especially when you faked out 2826 with the misinformation. I remember overhearing Wave talk about you blocking them twice in one cycle. They were something like: "they bumped us once, ran us down, and did it again".

This was our first time picking an alliance, and I couldn't be happier with the results. Our scouting team did great.

We really had a chance to beat Wave and Roboteers. The matches were closer than the scores make it appear. The climb interference call on 16 was bogus in the first match. And the ref admitted forgetting climb points in the second match. Unfortunately, we had already lost in autonomous. They shot lights out, and we fell short. There were a lot of matches played with a razor thin margin of victory.

To Bombsquad: Why did you call your robot "The Mantis"? It might be a "baby mantis" or maybe a "Mantis Jr.". It was fast and agile, but let's face it: "4143 is the real Mantis".

Looking forward to Crossroads. To me, it looks like Silicon Valley and Crossroads are going to be the toughest in week 6.

Good luck to 16 and 2826 at world's, 706 at Buckeye, and good luck to 2481 at Crossroads.

[Jibri Wright]

Originally Posted by RyanShoff

To Bombsquad: Why did you call your robot "The Mantis"? It might be a "baby mantis" or maybe a "Mantis Jr.". It was fast and agile, but let's face it: "4143 is the real Mantis". .

I think they called it that because they originally had a 30 point climber on the back, but took it off because it was too slow. They told me that at the competition. Maybe the climber looked sort of like a mantis, but im not really sure. They didn't bring it to the regional so...

[J-Blondie]

Wisconsin was definitely amazing! Midwest might actually be less competitive this year! We look forward to playing with everyone we saw this past weekend, as well as all the new teams at Midwest. Congrats to all of the winners and those who gave it their all, but may not have been an award winner. Let's face it, we are ALL winners! Students, mentors and parents alike. And let's not forget our sponsors! My favorite part of the weekend was doing the Gangnam Style dance on Saturday to represent the team, and then getting a student out there with me for the Harlem Shake. :3 Crazy mentors dancing works the best to get those students moving!

Also, the Wisconsin Regional ran so smoothly! As far as I could tell, matches were running on time and the turn around for matches was amazing. Great job Wisconsin Regional Planning Committee and all of the great volunteers! I think this year was my favorite Wisconsin Regional.

[Jefferson]

Originally Posted by Jibri Wright

I think they called it that because they originally had a 30 point climber on the back, but took it off because it was too slow. They told me that at the competition. Maybe the climber looked sort of like a mantis, but im not really sure. They didn't bring it to the regional so...

Yes, the name was chosen because of the climber's appearance.

We actually had a shortened version on the robot for a 10 pt. hang at WI. The shorter arms allowed us to store it under the robot during the match, so you didn't see it much.
The longer, 30 pt, version had to stick straight up to fit within the frame perimeter for the starting configuration. It was stowed underneath during autonomous and then brought back out to climb.

[trilogy2826]

Originally Posted by RyanShoff

Especially when you faked out 2826 with the misinformation. I remember overhearing Wave talk about you blocking them twice in one cycle. They were something like: "they bumped us once, ran us down, and did it again".

I am a little confused by this statement. As the coach and strategist for 2826, I can honestly say that we were not "faked out" by anything BBS did. They are arguably the foremost authority on defense in FRC, but the play in the QF matches was not really a surprise.

[DsRandhawa3244]

Wisconsin was unreal this year. Finals had some of the coolest alliances I'd seen all season. It was a bummer that we lost in semis, but driving against the winning alliance was nothing but a pleasure.