Excellence Award winner from Beaver Local: Riley Murphy, Troy Burlingame, A.J. Layman. (Submitted photo)

LISBON — Student engineers from across the county took center stage Saturday, Feb. 14, as the CCESC VEX V5 High School Robotics League held its season-ending finals at the Columbiana County Career and Technical Center.

Three teams earned qualification to compete in the 2026 Ohio V5RC High School Robotics State Championship, which will take place March 6-7 at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio.

Salem will be well represented at the state level, with two teams advancing. ASAP and Sisyphus captured the Tournament Championship during the elimination rounds to punch their tickets to state. Beaver Local’s Adrenaline also secured a place at the state championship by winning the Excellence Award, recognizing the top overall program for performance, design, and teamwork.

This season’s VEX V5 Robotics Competition, Push Back, challenged teams to compete on a field featuring 88 blocks and four goals: two long and two center. Teams scored points by placing blocks into goals, controlling goal zones, and parking their robots in alliance park zones at the end of each match.

Matches began with an autonomous period, where robots followed pre-programmed instructions. The alliance that scored the most during this phase earned a 10-point bonus, while both alliances had the opportunity to earn an autonomous win point by completing designated tasks, making every second and every point count in the fast-paced competition.