By Jessi Kjemhus
The Great Northern Regional Tournament was hosted at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks March 13-15th . Keeping up with tradition, North Dakota was going to send another storm system to the area. The committee decided to start the tournament on Thursday instead of Friday to try and stay ahead of the weather. After qualification rounds, Team 876 was 6-3 holding strong in third place advancing to selection rounds. Team 876 was asked to join the number one seed, Team 3276 Tool Cats from New London-Spicer, Minnesota. Together they formed Alliance 1 along with Team 7530 Raiders of the Lost Spark from Watertown, Minnesota, a strong defensive team. Alliance 1 proved to be a strong force as throughout the finals they beat every alliance by more than forty points! They plowed they way through to championship where they were matched with Alliance 2 in a best of three style set. Alliance 1 got the job done, booking their tickets to Houston, in two games.
With a first-place win, Team 876 won the Innovation in Control award too! The students and mentors did a fantastic job of staying focused. They excelled in all areas of the competition including scouting, driving, awards presentation, cheering, robot maintenance, safety and pit work. It is extremely tough to win over 54 teams that all want to beat you. The tournament is one of the most competitive regionals in the upper Midwest.
Looking forward to next month, Team 876 has plenty to do. First off, Worlds is April 16- 19 in Houston so not a quick and cheap trip for the team. They will be working on fundraising by selling raffle tickets for cash prizes and holding a Burger Bar at the Hut Bar and Grill on March 29 from noon until they run out of burgers. On top of fundraising, they will be fine tuning the robot’s, Hammerhead, programming and continue driving practice.
Congratulations to the entire robotics team: Peyton Bumgardner, Natasha Axt, Reed Chandler, Joey Westmoreland, Freyja Engen, McKayla Gillespie, Cooper Handly, Jersie Vivier, Ashton Zimprich, Ryder Lang, Brennon Nelson, Ashlynn Pahner, Jay Nelson, Charlie Claveau, Bethany Parsons, Rosemary Todd, Chris Parsons, Alec Brucker, Bryce Scholand, Patrick Armstrong, Hannah Scholand, Jett Schwehr, Lilly Boe, Mark Cochrane, and Riley Winkle. Now for the mentors of Team 876 Ben Thorsgard, Ray Aamold, Drake Fisher, Ashley Engen, Mike Voglewede, Justin Nelson, Mark Engen, Candice Nelson, Davi LaMont, Kristine Chandler, Phillip Bumgardner, and Brian Snyder. All your hard work and dedication has paid off and we are all extremely proud of you!