Click the above image for more photos from the 2025 FIRST Robotics World Championship
April 22, 2025 — On April 15, a group of 42 Mound Westonka High School robotics students and chaperones boarded a charter bus with their award-winning robot, “Squid,” strapped safely on board. Bound for the FIRST Robotics World Championship in Houston, Texas, this year marked the second time in their 10-year history that the team has earned a place to compete on a world stage.
Over 50,000 people gather each year for the FIRST World Championships at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas, where championship matches are held for all three branches of FIRST: LEGO League, Tech Challenge, and the FIRST Robotics Challenge. Boasting over 1.8 million square feet, the convention center is among the largest in the country, and the FIRST Robotic fields max out the entire main floor with eight full-size playing fields, one for each division.
Only 600 of the 3,690 active teams make the cut, and the Tonkabots were among these teams, spanning 17 countries worldwide. The exhaustion of a 24-hour bus trip didn’t slow them down, as the team jumped right into practice matches on Wednesday after unloading the bus and setting up their pit. The Tonkabots competed in five qualification matches on Thursday, and five on Friday, with playoff alliance selections taking place early Saturday morning.
During each 2.5-minute match, two alliances of three teams compete to score points by placing different game pieces in specific locations on the field, then climbing a cage, lifting their 125-pound robot off the floor in the final seconds. “You have no idea how stressful 2.5 minutes can be over and over and over until you are a robot mom,” says Tonkabots’ parent Jennifer Harding.
The Tonkabots team was assigned to compete in the Newton Division, the most difficult division of the championships, placing them up against the top two teams in the world. Despite the enormity of the challenge set before them, the team from Mound Westonka High School gave a strong performance, making their way into the playoffs of the Newton division on Saturday. The team competed in an alliance alongside Team 148, the “Robowranglers” of Greenville, Texas, and Team 125, the “NUTRONs” from Revere, Massachusetts.
The team managed to play hard, putting on an impressive and high-scoring first playoff match, but a techinical difficulty with their robot caused them to lose the match by a narrow eight-point margin. Without enough time between matches to make the needed repair, the next match would be their second and final loss before elimination. The team left with their heads held high, however, ranking 16th out of 75 in the toughest division at Worlds, and landing them in the top 3% of teams worldwide.
“What an event,” said Tonkabots’ coach Dale Kimball. “Making it to Worlds and, on top of that, making it into the finals. Just amazing what this team has accomplished.”
The Tonkabots’ season is not finished yet. The team is now busy preparing to compete in the MSHSL State Championship May 9-10 in the Ganglehoff Center at Concordia University campus, where they hope to defend last season’s state champion title.
If you or your company would like to be a part of the Tonkabots’ success next season, visit www.tonkabots.com/ sponsor to make a donation or become a sponsor.
