‘Gateway to the West’ Robotics Tournament Returning to Ohio County in 2025 | News, Sports, Jobs
Ohio County Schools middle school robotics teams stand together after completing competion Tuesday. In the first row, from left, are Aiden Milton, Dom Scarnecchia, Connor Skariot and Sam Lewis; second row, Sebastian Molina, Carson Rich, Nick Franke and Katelyn Maloney; back row, Amber Bishop, coaching assitant Azariah Bayes, Erin Triveri and Amanda Francis. (Photo Provided)
WHEELING – The “Gateway To the West” international robotics competition will be back in Ohio County in 2025.
Organizers of the Vex Robotics World Championships announced during their tournament in Dallas this week the locations for 26 signature qualifying events throughout the world next year – and one of those will be the “Gateway To The West” event returning to The Highlands Sports Complex in Triadelphia next year.
Middle school students are slated to compete Jan. 29-30, 2025 at the sports complex; and high school students, Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, 2025.
The announcement came just as the middle school competition at the world championships was completing on Tuesday. Six teams from local middle schools were among 410 qualifying for the Vex Robotics World Championships.
Competitors from Ohio County included “Buckets” from Bridge Street Middle School and “Roboraiders” from Triadelphia Middle School. Sherrard Middle School in Marshall County, meanwhile, sent four teams to the competition – “Lil’ Squirtz,” “George Drinks Water,” “The Lucky Charms” and “Shaft Collars.”
None of the teams moved on past the qualifying rounds. But one Sherrard team – The Lucky Charms – received the Judges Award for the middle school competition. Team members included Allison Twigg, Ada Aubrey and Leah Skidgel.
“We are still unbelievably proud of all these teams,” said Zak Klemm, Sherrard robotics coach. “They have grown so much over the year and overcome so much. They represented West Virginia on the world stage so well. There are so few that get this chance. The coaches could not be more proud of all they have accomplished.
“I would be remiss to not thank Dr. (Shelby) Haines and the Marshall County Board of Education for their support.”
JoJo Shay, innovation coordinator for Ohio County Schools, suspects the Ohio County teams learned much at the world tournament.
“Both teams had a lot of close matches this week and will take away some valuable lessons that we will take into next season,” she said.
Shay added the students, coaches and staff are starting to know those on other teams from around the country.
“A new occurrence for us this year was coming to Worlds and having connections to over 20 middle school teams that attended our inaugural Gateway to the West Signature event.”
This year’s “Gateway To The West” brought in more than 750 students representing 140 teams competing, and they came from 15 states and Canada to Ohio County. Most of those attending stayed in hotels and ate in restaurants at The Highlands.
Registration fees and additional donations to the event generated enough money to cover the cost of travel for all Ohio County robotics teams qualifying for the Vex Robotics World Championships to the tournament in Dallas happening over the past week, according to Shay.
In addition to the two middle school teams, three teams from Wheeling Park High School participated in the high school tournament. One of the teams, “Iron Patriots-Wagyu,” advanced to the semi-finals in their division.
