Fairmont Robotics Team wins State Tourney

FAIRMONT — The Minnesota State High School League State Robotics Competition was held Saturday, May 6, at Williams Arena in Minneapolis for the top 36 teams in the state. The MSHSL began hosting robotics tournaments in 2012 and has remained a single class tournament regardless of school size. The game is played by two alliances made up of 3 teams each playing in 3 vs 3 matches. Teams play eight qualification matches then the top 12 teams play in a double elimination bracket.

At the end of the qualification rounds, the Fairmont High School Robotics Team (Team 2847 – The Megahertz) was ranked 4th. Fairmont picked fellow Greater Minnesota teams Rocori Springs and Dassel-Cokato as their partners as the 3rd seeded alliance in the play-offs

In the first semi-finals match, the out-state trio battled the second seeded alliance of Sartell, Irondale/New Brighton, and Babbitt and won 176-165. The Fairmont led alliance fell behind initially and was on the ropes when their alliance partner Rocori’s robot experienced a jammed game piece and couldn’t score the last half of the match. However, Babbitt severely damaged several game pieces during the course of play and the penalties pushed The MegaHertz over the top for the win.

In their second semi-finals match, the Fairmont alliance faced the fourth seeded alliance consisting of teams from Bloomington, Burnsville, and Hermantown resulting in a loss of 173-169 and moving the MegaHertz to the lower bracket. The two alliances scored an identical number of game pieces, but a 5 point penalty against the Fairmont-led alliance was the game decider.

Next The Megahertz and their alliance met the first seeded alliance (made up of two of last year’s state champions) in the lower bracket and won by the slimmest of margins – 185 to 184. This win put the team in the finals against the number four alliance.

In the first of the best of 3 finals matches, the MegaHertz and teammates claimed a decisive 158-121 victory. Due to a last buzzer beating last second score by Burnsville, the second match resulted in a 179 to 177 loss for the Fairmont-led alliance forcing them into a third match for the state title. The team then rallied to score the most they had throughout the whole tournament to take the third match 172 to 166 and the first ever state robotics championship title for Fairmont, Rocori and Dassel-Cokato.

At the tournament, Senior Aiden Nelson received all-state honors and head mentor, Sam Viesselman, was recognized as Section 2 Robotics Coach of the Year as well as Assistant Robotics Coach of the Year at the state level.

Team members are Aiden Nelson, Noah Vetter, Sebastian Castro, Jonathan Heinze, Alex Kastning, Matthew Malo, Ben Moeller, Ty Nawrocki, Amanda Poetter, Isaac Sheard, Sam Grogin, Kaylee Nelson, Noah Wolner, Jake Ehlert, Emma Jerred, Ainsley Malo, Jacob Murphy, and Isaac Stone. Mentors are Sam Viesselman, Cindy Viesselman, Logan Kahler, Robert Malo, Jason Nelson, Noah Johnson, Celia Simpson, Chad Moeller, and Bryan Kastning.

It was a season of firsts for the MegaHertz team as they had returned from the team’s first appearance at the World Championships in Houston just two weeks prior. The team will now enjoy a well-deserved break before resuming summer training sessions.