Worland robotics team places fourth at state meet

WORLAND – The Worland Robotics Team traveled to CY Middle School in Casper on Feb. 19 for their state competition and brought home a fourth-place finish.

The robotics team members are – Oran Green, Jackson Richard, Luke Hamer and Xander Smart. Hamer and Richard are the only two returning members from last year's team.

According to co-coach Steve Radabaugh, preparation for the competition started in the middle of September, where it was announced the theme for this year's competition was 'Freight Frenzy' which, according to Radabaugh, mostly involves picking up little blocks and whistle balls and placing them on a teetering tower.

"This is the first year we've gotten to compete in Casper, because last year was a virtual tournament due to COVID," Radabaugh said.

"You first do five qualifying matches," he explained. "After three of those five matches we were actually ranked second, but during the fourth match one of the motors actually burned out and the team scrambled to swap that out between matches. We were able to get back up there for the fifth match and in the fifth match, a belt broke. So the last two matches were not so great, but we were still able to get into the finals so we could get in to that fourth-place spot."

According to Radabaugh, the team was started last year. The team received the judge's award at last year's virtual competition. The team is open for everyone in seventh through 12th grade.

Radabaugh added, "I'm excited to start back up in September, and we're hoping to attract more kids."