This past weekend, Kingsford High School hosted their first Robotics Competition district event. Forty teams from all over the UP, downstate, and one team from Indiana competed in this year’s game, Infinite Recharge. Teams were tasked with building a robot to score 7-inch foam balls in a low or high goal, and to hang from a large teeter-totter structure in the middle of the field. Matches are played by two opposing alliances consisting of 3 teams each, culminating in a best-2-of-3 elimination bracket.

The finals matches were contested between the #1 alliance of Kentwood, Gladstone, and Iron River, against the #3 alliance of Houghton, Rock, and Ontonagon. The #3 alliance edged out #1 by margins of 1 and 2 points in each match. This marks the first event win for the 19-year-old Houghton team and the 2-year-old Rock team, and the third win for the four-year-old Ontonagon team.

Among local teams, Calumet won the Engineering Inspiration Award, Houghton won the Innovation in Control Award, and Baraga won the Judges’ Award.