All four robotics teams competed at the 2024 Missouri VEX State Championship in Park Hills, Mo. While each individual team did well in competition — robotics team Blue Brains even earned a spot at the Worlds championship —  team OverDriv6 succeeded in a completely separate trait from any of the other competition: persistent teamwork. 

OverDriv6 thrived off of the energy and friendship between seniors Tommy Eschbach, Andrew Son and Kaiden Kelley. For Eschbach and Son, the connection was instantaneous, forming a close friendship during their freshman year on the robotics team.

“I’ve known [Son] since sixth grade. I continued to have classes with him, and he just kept on showing up,” Eschbach said. “Once I joined the robotics team, we really clicked and got closer. Despite being the [senior class] president, [Son] is easy to talk to and fun [to] joke around with.” 

Throughout the past year, Eschbach and Son co-lead OverDriv6, helping to prepare for competition. While Son worked on coding the robot’s autonomous paths, Eschbach focused on being the driver and mechanic. During this process, the duo’s close friendship developed to include Kelley, a connection that sprouted from being on the same robotics team this year.

Kelley helped with the mechanics alongside Eschbach while also utilizing his shared knowledge of engineering with Son, ultimately bringing the trio closer together.

“We all got along well and had similar interests, so that helped [the team] a lot,” Kelley said. 

Despite Kelley’s subdued character in comparison to Eschbach and Son, the group’s expertise in balancing their specialties and amiable personalities helped to keep the team running smoothly. 

“We work well together because we are very open to each other and [how our] qualities and skills complement each other,” Son said. “[Eschbach] is great at being able to throw in jokes during difficult or awkward moments that we have as a team. No matter what you give, [Kelley] will always come back with not just a solution but a working solution.”

“The most rewarding part of coaching robotics this year has been observing the camaraderie between the teams. As a teacher, seeing the smiles and the joking around between the students is the ultimate payoff. Of course, we also want to see the teams perform well because they want to perform well, but good sportsmanship and friendships will always trump trophies,” Schwent said.

In the end, the finale for the senior season of Overdriv6 was a bittersweet one. Even though the results at state didn’t end with a ticket to World’s, Overdriv6 earned the superior prize: companionship. 

“I am honored to finish the season with [Kelley], [Escbach] and the whole team,” Son said. “It is hard to find a team [that is] fully committed and beyond the relations of just being team members. Working with them has been a pleasure.”