Courtesy photo The Gladstone BraveBots Drive team includes, from left, Max Wilson, Logan Veeser, Sawyer Lynch, Coach Tim Barron, and Devin Messina.

ESCANABA — Two area high school robotics teams have qualified to compete in the World Championship in Houston, Texas.

Both the Carney Nadeau BetaWolves and Gladstone BraveBots robotics teams left for Houston on Tuesday. They will begin competition there today.

The teams qualified for the World Championship by competing last weekend at the Michigan State Championship at Saginaw Valley State University.

Team 4391 of the Gladstone BraveBots finished the qualification rounds with a record of 9-3 and were team captains on the Consumer Energy Field.

“Our team consists mainly of freshman with only three upper classmen. We started the season rough and inexperienced. By our second tournament the students started to get a feel for it and on our second day at the state championship they put the pedal down. They won all seven matches and secured every ranking point that was available. I couldn’t be prouder of the growth I’ve seen in this team,” said BraveBots Coach Tim Barron.

“This is a great experience for this young team, I can wait to watch these BraveBots go as they continue to mature in the program,” Barron said.

The BraveBots apprentice team 8425 (consisting of 6th-8th graders) also competed at the state championship respectfully finishing in the top third of Michigan’s 458 teams.