New Hanover County robotics team preparing to slice through the competition

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — In sports, you often hear the phrase “created in a lab” to describe a dominant athlete.

For the Wired Wizards best athlete, Gill-a-teen, that phrase rings true.

Built in less than 2 months, Gill-a-teen has helped carry the Wired Wizards, a New Hanover County-based First Robotics Competition team, into the state championship.

Max Lingenfelter is a senior at Laney High School.

He explained what Gill-a-teen was designed to do for this year’s aquatic-themed game.

“It has to pick up different game pieces so this year, that’s an algae which are these kind of big, green exercise balls,” Lingenfelter said. “And then as well as feed coral, which are just like four inch PVC pipes and then score them in different places.”

So far, Gill-a-teen and the Wired Wizards sports a strong record of 29 wins, 4 losses and 1 tie across 2 district competitions.

The Wizards won one of those competitions and finished second in the other.

The tWiredeam is ranked second in the entire state out of 86 teams.

The team comprises homeschooled students and other kids from all 4 public high schools in New Hanover County.

Ken Kelmer said they’re a team he’s proud to coach.

“They were singing on the back deck and it was just like, it’s just this really tight knit group which is a lot of fun, which is great,” Kelmer said. “And that’s what, we don’t need to do anything else. We don’t need to win anything else, we don’t need to go to worlds, it’s just, it’s a lot of fun.”

For Lingenfelter, he’s said another added benefit is the interaction he’s had with other students across the county who share his interests.

“For me, it’s meant community and friendship and meeting kids I wouldn’t otherwise get to meet that are interested in similar things. But I’ve also learned a lot about myself, especially like leadership skills. You grow a lot with like working within a team and managing people and so, yeah, there’s been a lot of personal growth for me.”

The Wired Wizards and Gill-a-teen head to the state championship this weekend where they hope to finish inside the top 10 to then head to Nationals, which will be held in Houston.

A goal every team member hopes they can make at least once during their time with the Wired Wizards.

The team has started a fundraiser to help cover travel costs to Nationals if they make it.