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By Khalil Anderson
CLEVELAND, OH – The Tech Warriors from East Technical High School in Cleveland made history by becoming state champions at the FIRST Robotics Competition Ohio State Championship. Their success would not have been possible without the extraordinary teamwork and coordination of The Tech Warriors and their alliance partners, Team 4028 The Beak Squad from Cincinnati, Team 1787 Flying Circuits from Pepper Pike and Team 8243 Astro Circuits from Cleveland.
The FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is a competitive robotics competition that challenges high school students to design, build, and program robots to perform specific tasks. The Tech Warriors proved their skill, determination and professionalism throughout the year competing at competitions such as The Finger Lakes Regional in Rochester, New York, The Buckeye Regional in Cleveland, and The Miami Valley Regional in Cincinnati. After competing at three competitions, The Tech Warriors ranked among the top teams in the state.
After finishing all their qualification matches and ranking 25th, their journey to the state championship round began with an alliance selection process, where they secured a spot on the number one of the alliance to enter the playoffs and compete for the state championship.
During the playoffs, the top eight alliances faced off in a series of elimination rounds. The Tech Warriors and their alliance partners exhibited exceptional agility, and precision with their robots, allowing them to score high points and go unbeaten in the playoffs, ensuring their position in the finals.
The alliance went up against an extremely skilled alliance in the finals, but The Tech Warriors and their alliance partners weren’t about to back down. They went undefeated in the finals and won the title of state champions because of their excellent teamwork and execution.
After endless hours of competing and strategizing, The Tech Warriors and their alliance partners put into building chemistry, their work had finally paid off. The four teams worked flawlessly together, bringing home a championship banner and trophy.
Khalil is a senior at East Technical High School. He participated in the eight Saturdays Cleveland Media Academy sponsored by the Plain Dealer and cleveland.com