After winning two regional competitions for the first time in their history, the Wentzville robotics team advanced to the FIRST Robotics World Championship. The Ratchet Rockers competed for four days, from Wednesday, April 20 to Saturday, April 23, at Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center. They contested as one of 454 total teams from 10 countries, which included squads from Brazil, Israel and Turkey.

In their division of 75 teams, the Ratchet Rockers finished first with a record of 10-0. They were the only team of the 454 competing to accomplish a 4.0 ranking point average in their matches. Team 1706 then proceeded to play 6-0 through the division playoffs along with their alliance partners. They eventually secured the Hopper Division title, thus admirably taking home a third blue banner in just a single year. For the ultimate round-robin tournament between division champions, the Ratchet Rockers won two of the five matches they played. They placed fifth overall in the championship, making them the fifth-best student robotics team on the planet.

“This is by far the best that the team has ever done, and they are receiving recognition from other teams,” Robotics Director Dr. Narelle Deatherage commented. “They are no longer an unknown team!”

Wentzville’s global position is the greatest feat that the team has ever achieved. They have proved themselves on an international stage and have asserted that they can feasibly go to even greater heights in the future.

For years to come, robotics teams across the globe will tremble at the mere utterance of the name “Wentzville.”