By Austin J., Staff Writer
The clash of metal, the whir of electric motors, and the cheers of the
crowd. These were all the sounds that could be heard at the fifth annual RoboBots competition at Meadville High School. Saegertown Jr. Sr. High School was represented by two different bots. One was The General built by team Close Enough, which includes Brandon B., Ryan P., Nathaniel S., Robert S., and Shaun W. The other bot was Crossfire built by team Quarter in Thin, which includes Shelly A., Andrew B., Eric B., Kyle F., Keith L., Jeremy M., John N., Austin S., James S., Jonathan W., and Sean W.  The funding for these bots came from the generous donations of local businesses.

The competition, which included 29 teams from 15 schools, took place at Meadville High School’s on April 2 from 10a.m.-5p.m. The Panthers had high hopes for doing well, but both teams faced mechanical problems during the day that led them elimination from the tournament.  Crossfire defeated team Martians Marvin in the first match while The General threw Razor’s RazorV2 bot around the arena and came out with a win as well.  Crossfire lost its second battle against MASH’s Team 2 and their bot Rock, Paper, Scissors due to mechanical malfunctions, placing them in the losers bracket. The General’s second match against CCCTC’s Exterminators bot Rat Trap was lost after their bots weapon quit working because the belt came off. Ryan P. said, “I think that other than the electronic failure we did okay.”

In its third match against Rage Against the Machine’s bot Bulls on Parade from CCCTC, Crossfire was defeated because of mechanical failures. The General won its third match against General McClane’s Black Hawk and won. Then in The Generals fourth battle, the team had to forfeit because their bot failed to start up.

The teams did walk away with something that Saegertown has never won before and that was the best sportsmanship award. The team that won best Documentation was Lakeview’s Nauta-Bot. The winner of coolest bot went to Bloomsburg’s bot Excessive Force. Best Engineered bot was taken home by MASH’s bot 7.62. The final award went to Cochranton’s Projekt Mayhem’s Bot, Balor. The first place bot was Pixie from Bloomsburg, Pa. Second place went to Total Kaos from Venango Technical Center.