The Mathews High School Robotics Team 1137, also known as Rocket Sauce, closed out its 2016 season ranking 14th at the FIRST World Robotics Competition held April 27-30 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Team Rocket Sauce competed in 10 qualification matches in the 75-team Carson Division with a record of 7-3-0. The team’s robot, Pepe the Dragon, operated independently during the first 15 seconds of each match and performed flawlessly, crossing defenses placed in the center of the field.

Team captain Chisholm Wilhelm then took control for the final 2:15, driving the robot to score goals into and capture the opponent’s tower. Wilhelm was assisted by team member Dominic Quezada, who activated a mechanism to retrieve and shoot the boulders.  By participating in FIRST Robotics, team members are eligible to compete for more than $25 million in FIRST scholarship opportunities, a release said.

More than 600 teams from the U.S. and 40 countries assembled on eight playing fields at the...