The Columbus Community School district has a new State banner to hang. The 6072 Wildbot Robotics team is on their way to the State Tournament February 28th and March 1st in Coralville.
The team from Columbus, under the direction of instructor Tessa Pugh, earned the bid by finishing runner-up for the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Tech Challenge’s Inspire Award at the 2025 Sargasso League Tournament at Iowa City West High School earlier this month. The Inspire Award is given to a team that is a strong ambassador for FIRST programs and a role model FIRST team, is an inspiration to other teams and acts with gracious professionalism on and off the playing field, sharing their enthusiasm and knowledge with other teams, sponsors, their community and the judges, working as a unit with success in robotics.
Members of the Wildbot Robotics team at Columbus include Samy Valencia, Morgan Janssen, Kai Allec, Tate Travis, Naomi Allchin and Everett Allchin. They joined KCII news this week to talk about the contest and going to State
Allec explained, “(At Iowa City West), We felt we did really well at the end of the day but going in we were kind of stressed. Before we start competing we have to have our robot inspected, then we have to do a 10-minute interview, five minutes of us talking and five minutes of Q&A. After the interview process, we go into our matches and after that we go into the Championship rounds.
Travis continued, “I think one of the reasons we were able to get the Inspire Award was because of our interview. (When we qualified), I was really happy. It was amazing!”
Valencia said, “(When we qualified), I was completely shocked.
Noami Allchin described it as, “A shock, it felt really good to finally be going somewhere, getting better and have it show.”
Janssen added, “(When they announced we qualified), I wasn’t really able to even comprehend what had happened.
The 2025 State Championships are held at Xtream Arena and GreenState Family Fieldhouse in Coralville.
Hear more from the Wildbot robotics team on today’s In Touch With Southeast Iowa Program.