By Grant Guggisberg
Carl R. Ice College of Engineering
Kansas State University’s Wildcat Rocketry team took home gold for the second consecutive year at the Argonia Cup, a national collegiate rocketry competition that hosts teams from all over the country.
Wildcat Rocketry broke through at last year’s competition, winning the event for the first time in club history and breaking a world record for altitude on a commercial-staged L-impulse rocket.
Returning to the 2026 competition as defending champions, the club once again managed to secure a victory, finishing in first place with an altitude of 25,450 feet and a score of 82,680.
Oklahoma State finished in second place with an altitude of 24,657 feet and a score of 78,275, while Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, finished in third at 23,572 feet and a score of 75,484.
“Last year we proved that we could win,” said Tannyr Singleterry, club president of Wildcat Rocketry and senior in computer engineering, Wichita. “This year we had to prove that we can keep up that winning mentality.”
The Argonia Cup challenges teams to fly a two-stage rocket to a minimum altitude and have a nominal recovery, meaning no tangled parachutes or damage to any part of the rocket. If both of these conditions are met, the team receives a score based on altitude, payload size — in this case, the number of golf balls carried on board — and the size of the motors used.
Adam Riekeman, Argonia Cup subteam lead and senior in mechanical engineering, Overland Park, said less-than-optimal weather conditions were a factor in this year’s competition.
“Because of the weather, it was really important to get a really good first flight since there wasn’t going to be a second chance,” he said. “We were able to spend plenty of time preparing to really make it count. We had a really good baseline from last year, so we knew what to expect.”
While the team had more pressure this year as defending champions, the experience of winning last year also prepared the team to handle any setbacks on launch day.
“From what I have heard many times from older team members, our team has come a long way from not even being able to get a qualifying flight to now being back-to-back champions,” said Hannah Harris, Argonia Cup subteam member and junior in mechanical engineering, Topeka. “I’m grateful as a younger member to get to learn from them and see the hard work and growth from several years past finally pay off.”
Wildcat Rocketry is a competition team in the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering. The team’s advisor is Gennifer Riley, instructor in the Alan Levin Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering.
Additional members of Wildcat Rocketry include: Arthur Soper, sophomore in mechanical engineering, Bucyrus; Phillip Shirkey, senior in mechanical engineering, Concordia; Cameron Weeks, senior in mechanical engineering, Emporia; Erik Kaufman, junior in computer science, Halstead; Mario Ortiz, junior in mechanical engineering, Hutchinson; Sami Jundi, freshman in mechanical engineering and nuclear engineering, Lenexa; Griffin Douglas, senior in mechanical engineering, Tyler Hogenkamp, senior in mechanical engineering, and Audrie McCollum, senior in human development and family science, all from Manhattan; Lucas Riekeman, junior in electrical engineering, Overland Park; Ben Monday, senior in mechanical engineering, Salina; Carter Comer, junior in mechanical engineering, Shawnee; Matthew Herbster, sophomore in mechanical engineering, and Cole Scheer, senior in mechanical engineering, both from Topeka.
From out of state: Stephen Anderson, sophomore in mechanical engineering, Fountain, Colorado; David Toliver, sophomore in mechanical engineering, Kansas City, Missouri.
