After three back-to-back competitions, we were more than ready for a break! Fortunately, we got a week to rest, recover, and drink some tea. However, we knew that we could not relax too much since States was right around the corner. After our break, we met a few more times to refine and fix up Grunthos. A couple of students on our team also made a hook for Grunthos to climb with.

On load-in day, we were in pretty high spirits and things were going well. Later on in the night, the qualification match schedule got released, so we took a look. At first glance it did not seem so bad, but then we took a closer look. In five different matches, we were going against one team three times and another team twice. Unfortunately, both of these teams were the other top teams in the state. Needless to say, it was going to be tough for us. However, we knew that we had to remain optimistic and not panic!

The next day, our first match went smoothly, but after that, we hit a series of unfortunate events. In addition to our rough schedule match, we had to contend with our climbing hook getting in our way and hindering our robot performance. Despite these problems, we ended the day ranked 8th!

The following day, we removed the hook after it caused us another issue during our second to last match. Before that match, we attempted to tie the hook up because of all the problems it had created. Sadly, it was not enough, and the hook jammed our elevator lift. After that match, we made the decision to remove the hook from the robot completely. Fortunately, we still kept our 8th rank by the time Alliance Selections rolled around, and we ended up as the first pick of the 4th Alliance. At the end of the selections, our two alliance partners were Team 2655, The Flying Platypi, and Team 6003, SUM! Ever since we gave Team 6003 our gearboxes during week 4 of the build season, we continued to help them by giving them advice, tools, and anything else they needed. In doing so, we developed a close bond between our teams, so we were thrilled to finally be in an alliance with them! Playoffs followed in quick succession, and we ended the competition as Semi-finalists and qualified for the World Championships in Houston!

Next up: Worlds in Houston!