Wolfpack Robotics Earns Alliance Captain Spot at Prestigious Maryland Tech Invitational

With just days to prepare, Waring’s FTC team rose from alternate to alliance captain finisher at one of the world’s most competitive postseason tournaments.

Waring’s Wolfpack Robotics team capped off their remarkable 2024–2025 season with a surprise invitation—and an even more surprising run—at the Maryland Tech Invitational (MTI), held June 27-29 at the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University. MTI is one of the most prestigious post-season tournaments in the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) world.  Each year, it brings together 40 of the most technically advanced and accomplished FTC teams from across the globe for a final, highly competitive event. Admission is selective and invitation-only, based on a team’s season performance and scoring potential.

Although Wolfpack had applied to MTI in the spring, the team was initially placed on the waitlist and assumed their season had ended after a strong performance at the FTC World Championship in April. But when an international team had to withdraw just a week before MTI, the organizers reached out to Waring. With little time to prepare (Robotics Coach Francis Schaeffer was traveling in Europe when he received the last minute invitation!) Wolfpack quickly mobilized, assembled a small but eager travel team, and made the journey to Maryland.

Despite having no time to modify their robot or practice in advance, the team embraced the opportunity and made the most of the experience.

The tournament began on Friday with an exclusive engineering talk from scientists at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, including members of the NASA Dragonfly mission, a planned rotorcraft lander that will explore Saturn’s moon Titan. Students had the rare opportunity to interact with actual space probe components and learn directly from the engineers behind the mission.

Saturday’s matches posed real challenges. With 5 qualification matches and only 1 win, Wolfpack entered Sunday’s final rounds near the bottom of the standings. But in a stunning reversal, the team won all four of their matches on Sunday, climbing from 37th to 12th place—high enough to earn a coveted spot as an alliance captain for the elimination rounds.

For their alliance partner, Wolfpack selected fellow Massachusetts team GNCE Diamond, a longtime peer program and past collaborator through Waring’s summer robotics camps. The two teams paired well and competed strongly before being eliminated in the fifth match of the playoffs.

“This was one of the most satisfying events of my coaching career,” said Coach Francis Schaeffer. “To go from almost last place to alliance captain, and to do it at an event that includes some of the top teams in the world, was an incredible experience for our students. We arrived with no expectations, just happy to be there, and left having done a great job.  What an adventure!”

The travel team included students Avery Cooper (‘26), Juliette Hale (‘26), Caroline Oringer (‘26), Dylan Cook (‘26), and Annie Jacobsen (‘26), along with Ryan Hale (P’26, ‘29) and Audrey (‘29), who flew in to join the group that was co-Chaperoned by Francis Schaeffer and Suzanne Strahl Cooper (P’23, ‘26). Thanks to a concerted effort by Waring faculty, staff, and families, the team was able to make the trip happen in just a few days’ time—a remarkable feat of coordination and commitment.

Wolfpack’s showing at MTI marks the end of an exceptional season for Waring robotics, one that included wins at regional qualifiers, a play in the elimination tournament at FTC Worlds in Houston, and now a top-8 finish at a world-class invitational event. “It takes a village,” Francis added. And what a village Waring has!

Watch the Matches:
View the full livestream of Sunday’s matches here:
YouTube Live Stream – MTI 2024
(Wolfpack appears in matches #51, #62, #71, #90, and elimination matches #1 and #5)