Hamilton High School students competed at the SkillsUSA state-level competition April 1-2 at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison. Nineteen students represented Hamilton High School in 13 different contest categories, including cabinetmaking, CNC milling, carpentry, advertising design and woodworking display. This was the largest group of competitors that Hamilton has ever brought to state. Three Hamilton High School students walked away with gold medals.
“This was Hamilton’s most successful year of SkillsUSA competition ever,” says Hamilton High School Applied Engineering and Technology (AET) Teacher and SkillsUSA Advisor Alan Mamerow. “We had a record number of members this year, a record number of students competing. We are so proud to bring home three gold medals from the state competition,” he adds. “We are seeing an amazing amount of growth in our skilled trade programs during the school day, and we are seeing that growth translate to student success outside the classroom during SkillsUSA competitions like this.”
The following students received medals:
- Bryce Rogers – gold in screen printing
- Ezri Schulze – gold in advertising design
- Jacob Winter – gold in technical drafting
“Jacob himself is a huge success story for Hamilton SkillsUSA,” explains Mamerow. “His gold medal finish this year in technical drafting marked the seventh state medal of his high school career. Jacob began his SkillsUSA career qualifying for nationals as a freshman in the cabinetmaking contest. Now he gets to close out his time as a high schooler returning to nationals in technical drafting.”
The following students placed in the top five:
- Ryan Schmidtke – fourth place in cabinetmaking and woodworking display
- Sarah Wagner – fourth place in t-shirt design and fifth place in advertising design
- Justin Krueger – fifth place in related technical math
- Nathan Waltz, Ben Mettler and Zion Mitchell – tied for fifth place in team engineering challenge
- Ezri Schulze – fifth place in t-shirt design
The following students placed in the top ten:
- Vance Hoehnen – screen printing and t-shirt design
- Justin Krueger – CNC milling
- Sam Schmitt – woodworking display
- Evan Wagner – woodworking display
- Xander Patterson, Lukas King and Derek Zhang – team engineering challenge
“Even beyond our three gold medals, the state competition was very successful for Hamilton,” explains Mamerow. “Competition continues to get tougher every year, as SkillsUSA Wisconsin saw its largest state conference since 2019.” Mamerow says the future is bright. “It’s exciting to have freshmen and sophomores see such success early in their high school career and be able to look at the results and feedback that they are getting to be able to improve for next year.”
“The SkillsUSA results are a testament to both what students accomplished during the two-day competition and the time these students have invested during classes here at Hamilton,” adds Mamerow. “Our success is also evidence of our amazing AET staff members. John Ziemer, Tom Schlueter, Kathy Rose and Chad McLaughlin work closely with students to provide them with knowledge, skills and countless practice opportunities. This not only prepares students for SkillsUSA, but also for the professional paths that they are interested in pursuing after high school.”
The national SkillsUSA competition will be held in June in Atlanta, Georgia. Gold medal winners Rogers, Schulze and Winter all qualified to attend.
SkillsUSA is an organization for students interested in pursuing careers or expanding their knowledge of skilled trades. Over 80 different contests are available in the state of Wisconsin.