From Wabash to the World: 6th Grade Robotics Team Takes on the World

What an incredible experience for the Wabash Robotics program! Our very own 6th-grade team—Macklin Denney, Isaac Mattern, and Eli Ogden—recently returned from a whirlwind trip to St. Louis, Missouri, where they represented our community on the biggest stage in student robotics: the VEX Robotics World Championship.

For those unfamiliar with the event, "VEX Worlds" is officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the largest robotics competition on Earth. Thousands of teams from over 60 countries descend upon St. Louis to compete in a high-energy environment that feels like a cross between a high-stakes sporting event and technology trade show.

2026 Challenge: "Mix & Match"

This year, the team competed in the VEX IQ game titled "Mix & Match". In this game, students must design, build, and program a robot using snap-together plastic parts to move colorful scoring elements across a 6' x 8' field.

The competition is divided into two main parts:

1. The Teamwork Challenge: Two robots from different schools (often from different countries) are paired together as an "Alliance." They have 60 seconds to work together to score as many points as possible. It’s not about beating the other team; it’s about collaborating with them.

2. The Skills Challenge: This 60 second challenge is where the robot is on the field alone. It consists of Driving Skills (manual control) and Autonomous Coding Skills (where the robot runs entirely on pre-written code).

A Global Connection

One of the most exciting moments for Macklin, Isaac, and Eli was during the Teamwork Challenge. Their favorite match of the tournament was a "drive" where they were allied with a team all the way from Japan. Despite the language barrier, the universal language of engineering and strategy allowed the two teams to synchronize their movements and score effectively. This is exactly what VEX is about—building bridges between cultures through technology.

World-Class Results

We are incredibly proud to announce that out of the thousands of teams competing globally this year, our Wabash trio earned an incredible 101st place spot in the World in the Skills Competition! To rank that high on a global leaderboard is a testament to the countless hours these students spent refining their intake mechanisms and perfecting their autonomous code.

A Community Effort

This trip would not have been possible without the overwhelming support of our local community. From the businesses and individuals who donated to our travel fund, we want to say a massive THANK YOU. You didn't just fund a trip to Missouri; you afforded these students an opportunity to compete on a world stage, gain confidence, and see firsthand where a passion for STEM can take them. If you see these world-ranked engineers in the halls or around town, be sure to congratulate them on their incredible accomplishment!