ABOVE: From left, Isaac Stone, mentor Sam Viesselman and Sam Grogin lock in during the Lake Superior Regional Robotics event in Duluth last weekend. Submitted photo.

FAIRMONT – Competing against over 100 teams from across the midwest in Duluth’s Lake Superior Regional contest, Fairmont’s MegaHertz Robotics team came out victorious last weekend.

The competition was set up into two groups of 54. Teams involved were the best from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and the Dakotas. The task was to put 12 inch PVC pipes on metal poles and take 16 inch balls off of poles and into a goal.

After coming out victorious over everyone from their group, MegaHertz faced off against and beat the winner from the other group.

This was the first major competition out of five they will compete in this year, and their victory ensures they will compete at the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Robotics World Championship in Houston, Texas this April.

In addition to winning the competition, the team also won the autonomous award for best usage of automation. Team Mentor Aaron Perkins said they programmed the robot to place three of the four pipes automatically in 15 seconds.

“It went along with what we had planned,” he said. “We tried this year to be competitive for as many awards as possible. It happened the autonomous one was our strongest. That’s what we ended up with.”

Though winning this competition is momentous and puts them on the right track, Perkins said there’s no time to rest on their laurels.

“The main goal is to refine the robot and make it more efficient for the Worlds competition. As things currently stand, we are in very good shape to be a competitive robot at Worlds. We want to make sure we stay competitive and make the various upgrades we can to fix gaps in the robot that exist or create it to be more efficient.”

This chance for greater success at Worlds is bolstered by their current ranking of 12th out of 3,723 worldwide, 7th out of 2,954 in America, and 1st out of 190 in Minnesota. With this ranking, Perkins said he has seen considerable growth in his group.

“The joke is made at robotics competitions ‘Oh, it’s a mentor-built robot,'” he said. “‘The adults built it. They did everything.’ That’s not the case. The students designed it and built it. We had some help for some things safety-wise for them, but this is all theirs. The fact they are doing so well is a testament to the school, community and individuals on the team.”

Senior Sam Grogin said they had some small tune-up scrimmages and competitions before Duluth that helped them out with preparation. While there’s always pressure, Grogin said success built his motivation.

“After our first match we would do well,” he said. “Then I’d get confidence again. I realized we were doing well and we had a shot at this.”

High expectations derailed them the previous year. With that in mind, Grogin said he kept his expectations low and let the momentum grow over the two-day competition.

Looking forward, Grogin said they will be making adjustments to get even better. He said he’s grateful they focused on simplicity when building the robot, as they can easily tweak and revert any changes they make.

He’s also thankful they won the first competition, as in order to have a shot at becoming world champions they first have to fund their trip. Perkins said they are doing a variety of things to come up with the necessary funds.

“We have an open house on Monday night from 6:30 to 7:30 here in the high school shop,” he said. “If anybody would like to come and see the robot, see what it can do, meet the team, that’s fantastic. We’ll have more fundraising information there. We’re hoping to create a merch store with various products, asking businesses for sponsorships still, and doing a [online fundraiser].”

To help Fairmont MegaHertz Robotics make it to the World Competition in Houston, visit https://www.givemn.org/story/Fhs-Robo-To-Worlds-2025.