Team Overboard are an active team who competed in BattleBots World Championships IV and VI, as well as BattleBots: Champions I, with their heavyweight Deep Six.[1]
They also competed in World Championship VII with Deep Six's spiritual successor, Triton.
Outside BattleBots[]
Team Overboard competed in RoboGames 2018 with a 60lb robot called Deep 6, which entered the lightweight competition. Though it achieved mixed success in competition, going 1-2 overall, Deep Six quickly became a fan favorite due to its unpredictability within the arena due to the energy stored within its 25lb vertical spinner.[2]
Deep 6 was the inspiration for Team Overboard's 2019 entry into BattleBots, Deep Six.
Team Members[]
Dustin Esswein[]
Outside of BattleBots, team captain and Deep Six driver Dustin Esswein is a Navy diver, reflecting in the theme of his team and robots. He competed at National Havoc Robot League events in the 30lb division with Depth Charge. Boasting a 20lb horizontal spinning mass, Depth Charge utilized bristle drive for a 50% weight bonus and was responsible for shattering the innermost layer of arena protection during the March 2022 event. Depth Charge made the championship quarter-finals in August 2023, losing to Fracas early on, but defeating Pipe Bomb and then being eliminated by Kablooey Tango.
In an August 2022 Behind the Bots podcast, he confirmed he would step down as Team Overboard captain for Deep Six's successor due to wanting to spend more time with his family.[3]
Bradley Hanstad[]
A regular among BattleBots events, Bradley Hanstad joined Team Overboard ahead of the 2021 season, having previously worked with Team Think Tank, as well as the teams behind Chronos and briefly, Captain Shrederator.[4] He also competed in the 2011 edition of RoboGames and Combots Cup V with a shell spinner called Double Rainbow Party. Following Deep Six's rejection in 2022, Dustin Esswein confirmed Hanstad as captain of Triton. He also serves as Head Robot Engineer for the live show, BattleBots: Destruct-A-Thon.
Outside of BattleBots, Bradley Hanstad fought alongside John Mladenik and Megabyte in Season 1 of Chinese show King of Bots, finishing third place overall in the competition. He then joined Chronos for This is Fighting Robots, accompanied by team captain Jerry Serafin. Chronos survived its preliminary rumble, but lost both its fights afterwards and was eliminated early on.
Main article: Bradley Hanstad
Andrew Rossol[]
Team member Andrew Rossol had prior experience within BattleBots, forming part of Team Think Tank as they entered VD6.0 into the 2009 Pro Championship event. He had been part of the team for each of Deep Six's appearances with the sole exception of BattleBots: Champions I.
Chris Haataja[]
Chris Haataja joined the team in 2021, previously competing in BattleBots as part of Vegas Combat Robotics. He previously applied for World Championship VI with Warthog, but was unsuccessful. He joined Team OuiOui in 2022 ahead of their World Championship VII application, and was ejected with an upgraded Pardon My French too.
He competed in BattleBots Proving Ground with Warthog and fought Conquering Clown across the weekend of October 14-15, 2023.
Andrew Burghgraef[]
Part of TKO Robotics and Lucky during World Championship III and IV, Andrew Burghgraef joined Team Overboard ahead of the 2021 competition.
Chris Carlson & Trevor Trish[]
Present solely for Deep Six's debut campaign, their roles are unknown.
Shea Johns[]
Present with Vegas Combat Robotics and JackPot, Shea Johns joined Team Overboard and Triton in 2022 and is girlfriend to Triton captain Bradley Hanstad. Outside of BattleBots, she competes in the National Havoc Robot League with a bristle drive shell spinner called Cookie, and an upscaled version named Big Cookie. She is also the driver of Dustin Esswein's Depth Charge.
Alex Watson & Stephen Shaffer[]
Further additions to Team Overboard ahead of the debut of Triton, both team members originally applied for World Championship VII with a fellow horizontal spinner named Hot Pizza.
Sam Gallagher[]
Joining Team Overboard ahead of World Championship VII, Sam Gallagher is known to assist with BattleBots: Destruct-A-Thon alongside Triton captain Bradley Hanstad.
Robots[]
| Name | Weight Class | Seasons |
|---|---|---|
| Deep Six | Heavyweight | World Championship IV World Championship V (Withdrew) World Championship VI BattleBots: Champions I World Championship VII (Not selected) |
| Triton | Heavyweight | World Championship VII BattleBots: Champions II BattleBots Proving Ground |
Win/Loss Record[]
- Wins: 7
- Losses: 9
See Also[]
Trivia[]
- Team Overboard claimed their favorite robot to be the Comedy Central BattleBots exhibition entry Chinkilla.
References[]
- ↑ https://behindthebots.podbean.com/e/battlebots-champions-ep-2-recap-with-deep-six-captain-dustin-esswein/
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHPymsYZE98
- ↑ https://behindthebots.podbean.com/e/battlebots-champions-ep-2-recap-with-deep-six-captain-dustin-esswein/
- ↑ https://behindthebots.podbean.com/e/battlebots-champions-ep-5-recap-plus-triton-preview-with-brad-hanstad/