In what has become one of the biggest events in robotics, the FIRST Championship concluded Saturday with a dramatic win. Three teams are taking home the trophy after days of intense battles. Our Alex Stockwell has more.
ST. LOUIS -- We started out with 600 teams in the FIRST robotics championship.
The championship is set up in a best two out of three game format.
Not only did it come down to game three, but that ended in a tie.
A technicality cost the blue alliance the game and the championship.
After working tirelessly for weeks, the reward is greater than they could've imagined.
"I think this is a dream, probably tomorrow I'll wake up and I'll be happy," said Iris Harris of Cleveland's team.
"It's honestly indescribable. I'm filled with excitement and joy, and I'm so proud of my team and I'm so glad that we got to be here," said Alison Palmer with team Blue Cheese.
The four teams had to work together as one in order to get to this moment.
"The team worked as hard as they could on it and every day after school -- It was just until midnight, 2 a.m. working as hard as we could," said Connor Creekmur with the Roboteers. "I couldn't believe it whenever we won, because they were so good. It's just incredible we got to play against a group like that."
They say their alliance showcased the best of each team.
"All of our robots complimented each other. We had one that shot from the batter, one that shot from afar, we had a defense robot. It all worked out pretty well," said Zachary Couch of The Beach Bots.
For some, this is their program's first taste of victory in nearly a decade.
"Team 120 has been waiting for this for almost 10 years. Our last win was in 2007. We're very happy, this is something that we can bring home," said Iris.
As for the parents, they say seeing their child's success play out on a stage like this is indescribable.
"To have a moment to have this kind of victory is so unbelievable," said parent Amy Houghtaling.