A first for the Ripsaw robotics team

Cloquet was fifth out of 55 teams in the Lake Superior Regional FIRST Robotics competition last weekend at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center, the best the team has placed in its five years of competing. The team went 7-2 in qualifying matches and was in three playoff matches.

The RipSaw captains summed up the weekend: "We fought to maintain our position near the top of the ranks. Our robot, Bebop, was a dominant force on the gamefield by being a top scorer of each match. On Saturday, qualification matches came to an end and RipSaw Robotics, for the first time, became an alliance captain. As the lead team of the third alliance, we brought our team to a fifth-place finish, ending the weekend with an abundance of hope for the future of RipSaw Robotics."

Cloquet is currently qualified for the state tournament in Minneapolis in May. "We are guaranteed to know in five weeks if our ranking holds up," said co-head coach Michele Wick. "The area director feels confident that we will be participating on May 4."

The Esko SubZero team finished 25th, going 6-3 in the qualifying round and participating in five playoffs.

Barnum was 55th, going 0-9 in the qualifying round.