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Midlands Technical College Hosts 2023 S.C. High School Welding Skills Competition

Mar 07, 2023

Welding

Midlands Technical College hosted the 2023 South Carolina High School Welding Skills Competition on Friday, February 24.

Held at the Airport Campus in the Welding Technologies Center, the competition featured 58 high school students from 15 high schools across the Palmetto State. Welding industry experts from around the Midlands judged student work in two categories: Fillets and Groove. The skills-based event tests young people against their peers to help prepare them for the competitive nature of the skilled-trades job market.

"The average age of the welder right now is 50-years-old and so with all of those individuals retiring, there's a huge demand for the newer individuals to get into this really lucrative career," Welding Program Director Caleb Fulwood told News 19 WLTX. "Competitions like this really help introduce the high school students to our industry and then we are that steppingstone for them into the industry, into that direction that they want to go."

Coverage from News 19 WLTX

Sparks fly at high school welding championship; The annual Midlands Tech welding competition kicked off Friday putting college students to the test.

Coverage from WACH Fox 57

MTC holds welding competition as the state struggles to fill shortages

2023 SC High School Wilding Skills Competition Results

Category 1 Fillets

PlacePoints ScoredCompetitor NumberCompetitor School
19514Wagener-Salley High School
29421Woolard Career Center
39223Center for Advanced Technical Studies
49122Woolard Career Center
5871Fairfield Career & Technology Center
6856Lexington Technology Center
78313Wagener-Salley High School
88011J. Harley Bonds Career Center
9773Sumter Career & Technology Center
10744Sumter Career & Technology Center
11742Fairfield Career & Technology Center
127326Swansea High School
13725Lexington Technology Center
147216Barnwell County Career Center
156925Swansea High School
166512J. Harley Bonds Career Center
176519Golden Strip Career Center
186410May River High School
196320Golden Strip Career Center
206018Barnwell County Career Center
21577Andrews High School
22579May River High School
235330Lexington 2 Innovation Center
245224Center for Advanced Technical Studies
25528Andrews High School
264927Daniel Morgan Technology Center
274828Daniel Morgan Technology Center
284329Lexington 2 Innovation Center

Category 2: Groove

PlacePoints ScoredCompetitor NumberCompetitor School
19838Lexington Technology Center
29746Wagener-Salley High School
39545Wagener-Salley High School
49436Sumter Career & Technology Center
59347Barnwell County Career Center
69257Swansea High School
79158Swansea High School
88937Lexington Technology Center
98935Sumter Career & Technology Center
108753Woolard Career Center
118649Barnwell County Career Center
128656Center for Advanced Technical Studies
138433Fairfield Career & Technology Center
148454Woolard Career Center
157944J. Harley Bonds Career Center
167743J. Harley Bonds Career Center
177741May River High School
187555Center for Advanced Technical Studies
197252Golden Strip Career Center
206834Fairfield Career & Technology Center
216560Daniel Morgan Technology Center
226551Golden Strip Career Center
235659Daniel Morgan Technology Center
245040Andrews High School
254539Andrews High School