The Saint Ignatius High School Robotics Team 1308 (Wildcat Robotics) competed at the FIRST Buckeye Regional at the Wolstein Center this past weekend and finished their qualification matches with a record of 7-3. The team placed 17th out of 56 teams in qualification and was selected first by the 7th Alliance Captain for playoffs. The team was eliminated from playoffs in a hard-fought 188-214 point match with the 3rd Alliance. The 3rd Alliance would eventually go on to win the Buckeye competition.
The robot, named Benny after the algae-eating blenny fish, was statistically the best algae specialist bot in the competition, making it a valuable "helper" for the coral-specific robots.
Congratulations to the following students, coaches, and volunteers who competed this past weekend:
Captains: Demetri Matheou '25 & Marcello Verde '26
Seniors: Andrew Haas, Mayank Das, Alex Ament, Maksym Napora, Justin Chan, and Sean Fogarty
Junior: Matthew Khzouz
Sophomores: Joshua Chen, Ryan Haas, and Michael Favetti
Freshmen: Anish Rao, Matthew Kerns, and Owen Zabor
Coaches: Mr. Nathan Chaffee and Mr. Brian Burtka, S.J.
Mentor Volunteers: Gus Matheou, John Gibson '16, and Ian Thompson '19