Member Biographies

Meet the Wrench Warmers

Our team consists of twenty-four hard-working students from ninth to twelfth grade, two head coaches, and three amazing mentors.

Head Coaches

Sarah Oelkers

This is the fifth year that Sarah Oelkers has been a robotics coach. She has been a Life Science teacher at Blooming Prairie High School since 2014. She LOVES science and enjoys sharing the world of robotics with her students.

Brandon Oelkers

Brandon is an IT Systems Administrator at Olmsted Medical Center. This is his fouth year as Head Co-Coach after a year of mentoring during the rookie season.

Mentors

Matt Steiner

This is Matt's fourth year as a robotics mentor. He works directly with the programming team to ensure that the code is running smoothly. He teaches web design and coding classes at Riverland Community College. He lives in Brownsdale with his fiancée, Wendy.

Wendy Andersen

This is Wendy's third year as a mentor and she works closely with the media team. After she attended the competition three years ago, in Duluth, she became interested in being apart of this organization. Wendy loves to see the team's hard work compound throughout the years. She owns her own business, and in her spare time she likes to do crafts. Wendy gives great hugs, and she was recently engaged to Matt.

Marcus Zellmer

This is Marcus's fourth year as a robotics mentor with the Wrench Warmers. He is a 2007 BPHS grad, and is currently working insystems engineering with Boeing's Research and Technology group (BR&T). He works with the planning and design/development team, and is currently living in St. Louis area with his wife Andrea and his two young daughters.

Students

Kisha Aquino

Safety Team Captain
This is Kisha Aquino's fourth year in robotics and she is a senior this year. She enjoys competing and promoting safety during our regional competition in Duluth. She has been safety captain for three years, and she has earned two UL Safety Star Awards for outstanding safety in the Wrench Warmer's Dugout. Kisha enjoys playing competitive Counter Strike: Global Offense in her free time.

Jack Matson

Team Spirit/Mascot
Jack is a senior this year and he is taking part in his fourth year of robotics. He is looking forward to seeing other robots interact with ours. Jack loves going to the regional competition in Duluth, and he was so excited when he found out that our team was attending two regional competitions. In his free time, he plays Magic The Gathering and Super Smash Brothers Ultimate.

Adam Larson

Electrical Team
Adam is a senior and this is his fourth and final year in robotics. He enjoys meeting new people at the regional competition and loves to see the work the team has put in to the robot. He loves this year's Star Wars theme, and he is super excited for the two regional competitions we are taking part in this year. Adam loves to code because there are endless possibilities in creation. He runs cross country and track in the fall and spring sports season.

Baylee Sorensen

Social Media Captain
Baylee is a senior this year and this is her fourth and final year in robotics. She looks forward to integrating new members in to our team, and she always portrays a positive attitude. Baylee looks forward to seeing the team's hard work pay off at competition. She enjoys creating a brand for the team and is behind the posts on our social media sites. She has a cat named Moushi and takes PSEO classes at Riverland Community College,

D.J. Stender

Build Team
D.J. is a senior and this is his fourth year in robotics. He looks forward to spending practice building the robot for competition. He enjoys seeing the progress our team makes throughout the season. He is an Eagle Scout and enjoys spending time outside. He is often found around his '65 Mustang and loves cars. He will be studying Forensic Science when he heads to college after he graduates high school.

Jillian Wigham

Business Team
Jillian is a senior this year and this will be her fourth year in robotics. She is looking forward to partake in the experience and accomplishments of our team at not only one, but two regionals competitions. Jillian joined robotics her freshman year because it was an unfamiliar sport that she had never had the opportunity to participate in. In her free time Jillian likes to attend church with her grandma along with picking up hours at her job as a CNA.

Viridiana Villarreal

Build Team
Viridiana is a senior this year and is in her fourth and final year of robotics. She loves the hands on work at robotics, and she also enjoys meeting new people at the regional competition. She picked build team as her sub-team because she wants to pursue an engineering degree after she graduates from high school. She enjoys taking part in the One Act play and is active in band and the community's drum line, Stix of Fury.

Cole Graves

Build / Electrical Team
Cole is a junior and this is his third year in robotics. He looks forward to competing in competition and hopefully winning. He likes going to practice to spend time with his friends. He likes to play video games in his free time, and his favorite game is Minecraft. He joined the build and electrical teams because he enjoys working with his hands.

Charlie Heimerman

Build Team
Charlie in a junior this year and this is his third year in robotics. Every season he looks forward to seeing how our robot will turn out. His favorite part of robotics is being able to experience the regional competitions. He is on the build team because he enjoys working with his hands and creating a robot that is able to compete on the field. Charlie was on the football team that won the state championship this year, and he enjoys playing video games in his free time.

Isaac Arnold

Build / Electrical Team
Isaac is junior this year and this will be his second year as a Wrench Warmer. He joined build and electrical team to work with his friends on the robot. He enjoys going to the regional competitions to see our robot compete.

Devontae Freese

Safety Team
Devontae is a senior and this is his second year in robotics. He is looking forward to meeting new people at competition. He is a very social person, and the regional competitions are great places to make friends. In his free time, he loves to do creative activities like drawing, voice acting, and playing the piano. Devontae is constantly making his team laugh and lifting their spirits.

Carson Wacek

Build / Electrical Team
Carson is in tenth grade and this is his second year in robotics. He loves watching the robot grow throughout the season and eventually compete at the regional competitions. Carson enjoys being on build team because he spent his childhood building and taking apart model toy sets. One interesting fact about Carson is that he is the only person in his family over six feet.

Morgan Camry

Build Team
Morgan is a freshman taking part in his first year in robotics. He has shadowed the Wrench Warmers for two years, and he is excited to finally be able to follow our team to the regional competitions. He enjoys working with his hands and building our robot. Morgan has a turtle named Stubby, and he likes to trap shoot and play CS:GO in his free time.

Reese Millam

Game Master
Reese is a junior this year and she is partaking in her third year in robotics. She looks forward to spending time away at the regional competitions because it gives her a chance to experience a new environment. She is the team's game master and she creates a test to quiz the team on their knowledge of the manual. Reese also created the website and works hard on the fundraising and banquet projects. She loves to listen to music, read, and she also takes PSEO classes at Riverland Community College.

Thomas Donnelly

Programming Team
Thomas is a junior this year and this is his third year in robotics. He is looking forward to seeing our team's hard work pay off at the two regional competitions we are attending this year. He joined programming to learn more about code and use it in the future. He spends his free time playing Magic: The Gathering and Super Smash Brothers Ultimate.

Halle Strunk

Social Media / Sponsors Team
Halle is a junior this year and this is her second year in robotics. She looks forward to attending out regional competitions in Duluth and Iowa. She works behind the scenes on our robotics team, and she takes care of getting sponsors for out team. Halle reaches out to local businesses to gain their support for our robotics team. Halle plays golf in the spring sports season, and she has five dogs.

Ethan Ehlers

Build Team
Ethan is in tenth grade and this is his first year in robotics. He joined robotics because he wanted to join a team with his friends. He is looking forward to seeing the DECC at our first regional competition in Duluth. Ethan joined build team because he enjoys working with his hands and seeing our team gradually improve. He plays football and took part in our team's win at the State Championship.

Dylan Johnson

Build Team
Dylan Johnson is a junior this year and this is his first year in robotics. He decided to join robotics to take up a new hobby to fill the winter season between cross country and baseball. When we head to Duluth for the regional, he is excited to see different places and make unique experiences. He is ready to take part in a new team experience. Dylan is capably of skillfully riding a hover-board.

Asha Lighthizer

Programming Team
Asha is a tenth grader and this is her first year in robotics. She wanted to join because she wanted to learn how our team functions. She decided to join programming team because it would be a challenge. She is excited to see how our robot will do at competition. She loves to run and is in cross country and track in the fall and spring sports season. She also takes part in the One Act play in the winter season.

Sam Michaud

Programming Team
Sam is a freshman and this is his first year in robotics. He is excited to see how our team functions and has always been interested in robots. He is on the programming sub-team because of his love for computer, and he looks forward to seeing the robot's progression throughout the season. Sam plays percussion in band, and he like to play video games in his spare time.

Natalie Scheper

Build Team
Natalie is a freshman this year and is taking part in her first year in robotics. This year she is excited to experience the regional competitions for the very first time. She is ready to meet new people and get to know the robotics environment. Natalie plays the flute in band, and she likes to help the build team during our practices.

Ethan Marzolf

Business Team
Ethan is a freshman and this is his first year in robotics. He looks forward to experiencing the regional competitions for the first time.
He joined robotics to see is he would enjoy it. He has been interested in joining the team for a while. Ethan plays Minecraft on his PS4, and he plays football in the fall season and this year the team won the state championship. He is looking forward to next year and seeing the new competition.

Joe Pirkl

Build Team
This is Joe Pirkl's first year in robotics. He is a junior this year, and he decided to join robotics for the experiences he will make with his peers. Joe is also involved in cross country and baseball. Joe is excited to meet new friends and create memories at our first regional competition in Duluth. He is able to solve a rubix's cube in fourty seconds.

Kris Espinoza

Safety Team
Chris is a senior and this is his first year in robotics. He joined because it always seemed interesting to him. He joined safety team on a whim, and he enjoys helping the team stay safe. He is not quite sure what to expect of this season, but he is looking forward to seeing the robot compete at the regional. In Chris's free time, he enjoys playing video games and drawing