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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

Place Points Scored Competitor Number Competitor School
1 95 14 Wagener-Salley High School
2 94 21 Woolard Career Center
3 92 23 Center for Advanced Technical Studies
4 91 22 Woolard Career Center
5 87 1 Fairfield Career & Technology Center
6 85 6 Lexington Technology Center
7 83 13 Wagener-Salley High School
8 80 11 J. Harley Bonds Career Center
9 77 3 Sumter Career & Technology Center
10 74 4 Sumter Career & Technology Center
11 74 2 Fairfield Career & Technology Center
12 73 26 Swansea High School
13 72 5 Lexington Technology Center
14 72 16 Barnwell County Career Center
15 69 25 Swansea High School
16 65 12 J. Harley Bonds Career Center
17 65 19 Golden Strip Career Center
18 64 10 May River High School
19 63 20 Golden Strip Career Center
20 60 18 Barnwell County Career Center
21 57 7 Andrews High School
22 57 9 May River High School
23 53 30 Lexington 2 Innovation Center
24 52 24 Center for Advanced Technical Studies
25 52 8 Andrews High School
26 49 27 Daniel Morgan Technology Center
27 48 28 Daniel Morgan Technology Center
28 43 29 Lexington 2 Innovation Center

Category 2: Groove

Place Points Scored Competitor Number Competitor School
1 98 38 Lexington Technology Center
2 97 46 Wagener-Salley High School
3 95 45 Wagener-Salley High School
4 94 36 Sumter Career & Technology Center
5 93 47 Barnwell County Career Center
6 92 57 Swansea High School
7 91 58 Swansea High School
8 89 37 Lexington Technology Center
9 89 35 Sumter Career & Technology Center
10 87 53 Woolard Career Center
11 86 49 Barnwell County Career Center
12 86 56 Center for Advanced Technical Studies
13 84 33 Fairfield Career & Technology Center
14 84 54 Woolard Career Center
15 79 44 J. Harley Bonds Career Center
16 77 43 J. Harley Bonds Career Center
17 77 41 May River High School
18 75 55 Center for Advanced Technical Studies
19 72 52 Golden Strip Career Center
20 68 34 Fairfield Career & Technology Center
21 65 60 Daniel Morgan Technology Center
22 65 51 Golden Strip Career Center
23 56 59 Daniel Morgan Technology Center
24 50 40 Andrews High School
25 45 39 Andrews High School