07-03-2025
In just its third year, Chicago Christian's robotics team makes state
There was a break in the action during the 2025 Illinois FIRST Tech Challenge last weekend at Elgin Community College.
What do you do when you have time to kill waiting for the top high school teams in the state to operate their respective robots and compete in head-to-head challenges?
You do the Cupid Shuffle.
Well, some do.
Ryan Verver, a chemistry teacher at Chicago Christian High School in Palos Heights and coach of the robotics team, RoboKnights, wasn't one of those who busted a move, but his team made the big dance, advancing to state competition for the first time in just the third year of a program he created.
'The kids are really into this and the amount of time they've put in is huge,' he said. 'A piece of the robot fell off in our first match, so we kind of shot ourselves in the foot there and then we ended up facing one of the top seeds, which had gotten upset earlier, so that was a tough break.'
The RoboKnights were one of 44 teams that earned an opportunity to compete in the state championship after finding success at one of the FIRST Tech Challenge qualifying events, the South Suburban League Tournament in West Chicago on Feb. 1.
'We got unlucky with a lot of stuff and some things didn't go our way, and that happens sometimes,' RoboKnights junior builder and coder Josiah Kuecker said. 'No one to really blame there, and then we also have next year. We have one senior (Dylan Bresinger) graduating and he's the photographer so our core team is all going to be here so I'm pretty confident about next year and looking forward to that too.'
Kuecker is still recovering from the fall soccer season where he helped his team advance to the sectional finals for just the second time in program history. He joined the RoboKnights this season as the program continues to thrive thanks to the addition of kids like him.
'I've always been interested in STEM and engineering,' he said. 'And I took an engineering class sophomore year and just had a lot of friends on the team.'
Sophomore Caleeya Coleman, who's also director of outreach and awards for the RoboKnights, is proud of what they've been able to accomplish in a short time.
'Some days go wrong and you have good days and bad days,' she said. 'But we're still a team and I'm really proud of everybody and what we've been able to accomplish. I think this year it was more about our team dynamic.'
Junior Stephen Gordon, director of scouting for the RoboKnights, is in his third year with the team.
'The fact we made it to state is one great accomplishment we take from this,' he said. 'We were a rookie team three years ago when I started. So we started mentoring and went from six people the year before last to 21 people now this year so it's big.'
Gordon also is a member of the mock trial team at Chicago Christian and plays volleyball, a sport he will transition into this spring now that the robotics season is over.
'I never did anything like this before freshman year,' he said. 'The fact is that Mr. Verver does a very good job of displaying his passion, and his passion is robotics. He came from the Ironclad Robotics (at Bradley-Bourbonnais) after two years and then started the club here. He brought up the idea to us as freshmen and I was into that. I love computers.'
Everyone seemingly played a part in extending Chicago Christian's season into March and the unchartered waters of battling other elite teams in the state championship tournament. Other RoboKnights this season included Kyle Derks, Timmy McKee, Hayden Scott, Aiden Soucek, Ryan Vanden Bosch and Cohen VanWyk.
Another first for the RoboKnights this year was the creation of a second team. Evan Derks, Sophia Dinovo, Dylan Lester, Duncan Olson, Sammy Salinas, Winta Samson, Jase Schultz, Briana Sitko, Nathaniel Walter and Jayden Zhang are among those who competed earlier this season for 26980 RoboKnights Reloaded.
While the state qualifying matches were the most memorable for the kids, it was that first match way back in early November at Bradley-Bourbonnais when Verver realized knew he had something special brewing at the Palos Heights school.
'Our first meet I wasn't sure how good we were going to be,' he said. 'And then our very first match when we did a perfect autonomous and then I just realized we had a very good and a special team. I didn't know if we'd go all the way to state but it was a special moment to know we were going to be a top team in the league this year.'
