Omega Team, also known as Team Omega, are an active BattleBots team who debuted in World Championship VII with their heavyweight robots, RIPperoni and Starchild.
The team is largely comprised of members of existing BattleBots teams, notably Team Uppercut, Aberrant Robotics and Team VALKYRIE.
Both robots entered into the seventh reboot season were upscaled versions of existing robots in smaller weight classes, with RIPperoni directly replacing Uppercut for the competition.[1] While Starchild failed to win a battle and ultimately fell short of the Round of 32, RIPperoni made the tournament bracket before losing out to Black Dragon.
RIPperoni and Starchild both returned for BattleBots: Champions II, competing in the final Sin City Slugfest bracket. While Starchild fell in Round 1 to HyperShock, RIPperoni avenged its teammate and beat them to advance into the Golden Bolt tournament. There, RIPperoni drew Tantrum but lost in the opening round.
Team Members[]
Anna Zolnikov[]
Captain of RIPperoni, Anna Zolnikov previously competed with Uppercut during the 2021 season. In line with the season premiere, she featured in an interview with Chris Rose concerning RIPperoni's design, theming and her experiences as a rookie captain. She returned as a guest commentator in Episode 7 to discuss Starchild's battle against Mammoth.
Zolnikov has over a decade of experience within the sport, driving combat robots as far back as in 2011, aged just 15.[2] Alongside teammate and then Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School student Austin Brown, she finished fifth with Anonymous during Motorama 2013 while representing L-S Rogue Robotics.[3]
Brandon Zalinsky[]
Brandon Zalinsky is the allocated captain of Starchild, a heavyweight version of his 3lb robot of the same name. He joined Aberrant Robotics in 2019, competing in three BattleBots seasons with P1. Brandon Zalinsky also competes in National Havoc Robot League events with 12lber horizontal spinner Spill the Beans, as well as lifters called Torquito and P12.
Frederick Moore[]
Previously the driver of Valkyrie, Frederick Moore is a mechanical engineer by trade and formed part of the original BattleBots team alongside Leanne Cushing. He also entered Road Rash as part of Team Danger 4, but was reduced to a single three-way rumble and was a reserve for the main competition. He is currently the driver of RIPperoni.
Outside BattleBots, he competes in various events with his 30lb robot Marathon.
Sarah Pohorecky[]
Sarah Pohorecky joined Aberrant Robotics ahead of the 2020 season, having spent World Championship IV as part of Uppercut in their rookie campaign. She has also built various 12lb wedgebots in the past, as well as a beetleweight called So Rachet armed with a spinning wrench. A rebuilt version of So Rachet finished runner-up at NYMF MassDestruction in 2018. She specialized in electronics and helping to diagnose faults in her seasons with P1, and joined Brandon Zalinsky as the front-hinged lifter was retired in 2022.
Amanda Fowler[]
Also confirmed as part of Omega Team, Amanda Fowler previously formed part of Brutus pit crew during the 2018 season as well as Valkyrie from 2019 until 2022.
Austin Brown[]
Austin Brown was originally part of The Dentist, who had to withdraw ahead of World Championship II. However, he returned to assist with Uppercut for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. He has competed in smaller weight class events with and without RIPperoni captain Anna Zolnikov for over 10 years.
Anthony D'Ambrosio[]
Joining Omega Team for their debut season, Anthony D'Ambrosio also had prior experience with Team Shreddit. He competes with a 3lb robot called Blackbird away from BattleBots. Alongside Team Shreddit's Remy DeGuzman, he also competes with a unique multibot called Bananas For Scale, consisting of a larger shufflebot and wheeled robots shaped like bananas.
Robots[]
| Name | Weight Class | Season |
|---|---|---|
| RIPperoni | Heavyweight | World Championship VII BattleBots: Champions II |
| Starchild | Heavyweight | World Championship VII BattleBots: Champions II |
Win/Loss Record[]
- Wins: 6
- Losses: 8
See Also[]
Trivia[]
- Omega Team are the first BattleBots team to debut two brand new heavyweight robots in the same season since Team Whyachi debuted Hydra and the heavyweight Falcon during the 2019 season.
- Both Omega Team robots featured in the same Sin City Slugfest bracket during BattleBots: Champions II.