Twenty FFA teams competed Monday, March 11, in the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo State FFA Tractor Technician Contest. East Bernard FFA took home first place, along with a tool box filled with shop materials valued at $5,000.
The East Bernard FFA team consisted of Jacob Korenek, 16, who was high point individual and high point individual in components; Jacob Blazek, 17; and Kyle Havinka, 16.
“The hardest part of the contest was the parts manual,” Korenek said. “We only had 2 minutes and 40 seconds to answer five questions that came from the parts manual.”
All East Bernard FFA team members grew up in agriculture and have experience working on tractors. Blazek and Korenek said they hope to use their skills later in life on a farm and in mechanic shops, while Havinka said he is not sure what he wants to do quite yet.
The high point individual in the written section was Brandon Sievers, 18, a senior from James Madison FFA.
Sievers has been competing in the Tractor Technician Contest for three years. He said he has learned much from being a part of the contest and has finally won the top prize.
“Brandon has worked on restoring tractors at the house,” said James Madison agricultural science teacher Don Henson. “This is a combination of all his hard work, and I’m glad he made it here today.”
Team and individual results are listed below.
Team Results
1 – East Bernard
2 – Cooper-Lubbock
3 – James Madison
4 – Shallowater
5 – Breckenridge
6 – Ferris
7 – Rusk
8 – Frost
9 – A&M Consolidated
10 – Sandra Day O’Connor
Individual Results
1 – Jacob Korenek, East Bernard
2 – Kyle Hlavinka, East Bernard
3 – Jacob Blazek, East Bernard
4 – Keevan Prather, Cooper-Lubbock
5 – Garrett Ritchie, Cooper-Lubbock
6 – Brandon Sievers, James Madison
7 – Eric Venekamp, Breckenridge
8 – Koby Bolander, Shallowater
9 – Zachary Cooper, James Madison
10 – Dustin Robertson, Ferris
11 – Garrison Petree, Shallowater
12 – Jarrod Polk, Cooper-Lubbock
13 – Caleb Dover, Rusk
14 – Tyler Bell, James Madison
15 – Colton McGill, Frost
16 – Blaze Box, Breckenridge
17 – Cole Willis, Ferris
18 – Dimas Chevez, Ferris
19 – Eric Montalvo, Shallowater
20 – CJ Wood, Rusk
21 – Aaron Farner, Breckenridge
22 – Josh Frazier, Frost
23 – Matthew Dover, Rusk
24 – Andrew Jackson, Frost
25 – Dominic Simmons, A&M Consolidated
26 – Jacob Bennett, Sandra Day O’Connor
27 – Calli McIntyre, A&M Consolidated
28 – Cameron Pitts, A&M Consolidated
29 – Anthony Schepis, Sandra Day O’Connor
30 – Greyson Huerta, Sandra Day O’Connor