Congratulations to 292, 245, & 45 - Midwest Regional Champions

[zorro]

Wow, what a great regional. The finale was spectacular. After 245 was tipped over halfway through the 2nd match, PantherTech (292) secured their victory by not going to the top of the ramp-- doing so would give the opponents enough QP to win. I was very impressed with the overall competition and especially the eliminations rounds. As a former 4-year member of PantherTech, I cannot express how excited I am for them. With NO ENGINEERS on their team, they always put together a reliable and competitive robot. Last week in Ypsilanti and now this week in Chicago, they have finished in 1st place after the qualifying rounds. What's more is that they weren't going to nationals this year. Now, it appears they have qualified to go. I'm overwhelmed with excitement for them.

Again, congratulations to teams 245, 45, and 292 on winning a very competitive regional.

Good luck to everyone going to nationals,

[18voltMilwauke]

Good job guys and good luck at your other regionals and the nationals. Good luck from Team 9.Eleanor says watch out(our robot)lol.

[TravisCarpenter]

Thanks Greg And the seniors of last year were worried about the team doing alright this year.... we showed you guys To bad you couldnt be on the team right now to experience this. I have come to believe lately the engineers arent needed for a team to be successful, just a team that works well together and a good group of mentors to hold the team together. Without "The Grumps" donating all of their time and money into the team, this wouldnt have happened. Again, thanks to teams 45 and 245. Good luck to the teams traveling to Houston, and may everyone have a safe trip.

[Tyler Olds]

Awsome job guys, you really deserved it!!!!!!!!

[Andy Baker]

All I can say is that 292 is the story of the year for Midwest FIRST teams.

They performed consistently at Buckeye and get overlooked for the finals.

They seed #1 in GLR and get knocked out in the semis.

They seed #1 at MR, pick their well-celebrated crosstown friends (team 45) and team 245, put both of them on their backs and carry them through the finals.

Don't get me wrong, teams 45 and 245 did well (as I saw as 45's coach), but here are the facts: 292 played 6 matches, 45 played 3 matches, 245 played 3 matches. 292 drove well, strategized well, and made the right decisions.

292 did in the finals what they did in the Q matches, they had the most reliable automode with the most reliable robot. No wonder they also won the Quality Award. Speaking of reliability, their pit crew were playing cards with our TechnoKat cards in their pit on Friday... sheesh!

Kudos to all on 292, you greatly deserve this. The rest of you better watch out, they just qualified for Championships.

Andy B.

[JakeK23]

Thanks guys. 45 and 245... couldn't have done it without you. Thanks for all your help. This was fun. We have some trophies now!!

[Libby Ritchie]

Congratulations, everyone!! To 292....I wish we could have been there to see you win! We are so happy for you guys!!

[Kit Gerhart]

It was great to see Team 292 seed well, and WIN at the Evanston Regional. You guys have been overlooked too many times when partners were picked, but with two top seeds this year, and now a regional win, PantherTech will be getting some long-deserved respect. It was especially good to see PantherTech get its first win with my team of seven years, TechnoKats, as a partner along with Team 245.

I hope to see Team 292 at Houston, and hope you do well. My new team, Team 1062 won't be attending the Championship, but I'll be there working as a referee.

[Austin]

Thanks Kit, too bad you couldn't be there to share the experience. Thanks for all of your support, and good luck to 1062.

It was awesome getting to assist another Howard County team which is performing excellently this year. Great job, 292 for building an amazing *high-quality* robot, an amazing team, and an amazing alliance at MWR.

Thank you also goes to 245, who performed excellently during the elims, the win wouldn't have been possible if not for you guys!

Thank you again to all, you made our Midwest Regional experience an awesome one!

[Josh Hambright]

Omg the technokats are so cool!

I love you guys! You guys rocked so much!!!

292 you guys rule too! I loved you guys in cleveland and was extremely suprised you got overlooked, i am very happy to see how well you did in chicago!

245 you guys rocked too!!!

2/3 indiana teams is awsome!!! WOOO INDIANA!!!

Sorry i am still excited from yesterday....haven't calmed down yet.

[Gope]

Hey from 16...292 you guys were incredible. I remember scouting you guys on practice day and thinking you guys would prolly be a first round pick for seed 5-8, I was very wrong. #1 seed came out and picked 2 great robots and ran to the finals with it, where you met us. We beat you guys to the hill but it didn't matter you guys came out the victor the first match(I was amazed to see you guys pushing team 65 when they had their feet down, i didn't think that was possible). 2nd game rolled around and we beat you, but you had some good strategy and got off the hill at the end, and you came out the Mid-West Regional Champions...Grats!!! Can't wait to see you guys at nationals!



I want to thank team 65(3rd seed) for picking us, and on top of picking us they let us play twice every match! Talk about gracious proffesionalism! They had a great robot with a fast auto mode.


Also, I just wana say that team 111 had, in my opinion, the best robot at Mid-west, and from what I've seen on webcasts probably the best robot in the nation! Expect to see Wildstang perform very well at nationals!


only 2 weeks till TEXAS!

[DanLevin247]

You guys did great! Congradulations! I was up in the stands most of the time videotaping, and after seeing just about every single match, I thought our team was done for ( grrr...match pairings = not random at all ) untill we got picked by twisted blizard and the feds to go on to the eliminations. We were told that we wouldn't be in the first elimination match, but a last second mechanical error on one of our alliance partners forced us to go in with about 2 minutes notice. It was a valliant fight, and a really close match! We managed to get our arm halfway under 45's robot, and shove them halfway across the field! When we got back to our pit, we discoverd that there was a ton of red "tread dust" all over our arm! I had a great time, and congradulations to the winners!

[Andy Baker]

Originally posted by Kit Gerhart
... but I'll be there working as a referee.

Ut oh.



Andy B.

[shawny963]

congrats to 45, 292, and 245. You guys had a great alliance. We, 930, are glad to have gotten as far as we did. We were last place at the end of day 1. We ended up with 2nd. It was quite amazing. Thanks to the Huskie Brigade and Baxter Bombsquad. You guys were amazing.