Tournament organizer JoJo Shay, innovation coordinator for Ohio County Schools, reported that 22 teams registered to participate in the 80-team middle school tournament pulled out before the start of competition due to weather concerns.

Some had flights canceled, while others couldn’t arrange transportation to get all members to the venue. Among them was a local team from Cameron Middle School and another from Moundsville Middle School, she noted.

None of the 80 teams slated for the high school tournament, scheduled to begin Friday, had canceled as of Wednesday afternoon, according to Shay.

The start of the middle school contest on Wednesday began later than scheduled as some teams requested a later start. Qualifying rounds scheduled to start at 10 a.m. were delayed until 1 p.m.

“It was iffy, but we’re glad that the rest of the teams were able to come and we are good to go,” Shay said. “People are just happy we were able to make the tournament go. We started a little later today to allow some teams to travel that thought they should wait a bit to leave. So we just moved our schedule a couple of hours, and now we’re under way.”

Anna Klemm, technology specialist for Marshall County Schools, said she has attended several robotics tournaments across the nation. She believes “Gateway To The West” to be among the best organized.

“They all do such a good job of organizing this event, and making it a really good experience for the kids,” she said. “I love being a part of this.”

Her husband, Zak Klemm, is the coach for the Sherrard Middle School teams.

“We were a little stressed out about the blizzard… but we have a supportive district with a strong robotics program,” she said. “We had parents coming out to help us.

“Because of the support, it made what should have been a stressful situation not so stressful,” Klemm added.