色花堂app

For the 25th year in a row on April 17, 2025, the blue flashes of talented welders plying their craft in the 色花堂app Rocky Mountain Shootout lit up the shop inside the College of Technology’s William M. and Karin A. Eames Advanced Technical Education and Innovation Complex. The pops and crackles of their efforts echoed through the space as the judges inspected both their work and the breadth of their knowledge. The event registered 131 students from 24 different high schools in the region to compete for their part of around $10,000 in prizes and scholarships.

“This is the 25th year that we’ve held the Rocky Mountain Shootout,” said Lucas Bloxham, the welding program coordinator for the College of Technology. “We’re roughly capped at around 130 students despite interest from many schools in the region. This makes the shootout a premier competition in Idaho.” 

The students were split up into two different competitions based on their level of training. With Future Farmers of America (FFA) students entering the Agriculture Division(AG) portion and technical high schools entering the more complex Trade and Industrial (T&I) Division. Each competition involved both a testing portion, where the students were quizzed on things like metallurgy and the math behind what voltage to use on what projects, as well as a practical skills portion where they would be required to perform a variety of different welds in different situations with different kinds of machines.

Each of the students came in and gave it their all as they diligently took their tests and performed their welds. Everything from MIG welds, where a wire feed machine is used for its comparative simplicity and high volume of welding medium, to the more complex Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding, which combines aspects of old school torch welding with the more technologically advanced arc welding to allow the welder to perform on materials like aluminum or titanium. However, in the end, there could only be a few winners, a few who stood out above the rest.

Coming in first place among the AG students was Jake Price from Bear Lake, who stood atop his proverbial podium with pride and contentment. In the T&I Division, Benjamin Perez came in first, showing themselves as the best of the best in their peer group and that he is more than deserving of his spot in the Welding program in the upcoming Fall Semester. He also defeated his competitors by handily completing his TIG welds with precision, consistency, and speed. Rounding out the first-place winners was Ryan Anderson from Butte County High School, who dominated in the written test, and one of the talented teams from Bear Lake, whose clean welds and cleverness carried them to the peak of the Agricultural Team Division.

“It feels good to see my hard work pay off.”, said Benjamin Perez. “I did a lot of things that other kids weren’t willing to do. I spent a lot of hours practicing that they might not have been able to spend. I’m just glad it was all for something. A big goal winning this was simply to come to the school, and we got it done. ”

Beyond the competition, the Rocky Mountain Shootout allowed students to tour the facilities of the Eames Complex, discovering potential interests and avenues for their future. Additionally, they were able to mingle with members of the welding community in the region. The event was a huge success thanks to the generous donations from Aztec Welding, Pacific Steel Inc., Remax - Mai Team, Norco, Swire Coca-Cola, J. Harris Enterprises LLC., ISTEM - Idaho Business for Education, Idaho Central Credit Union, Premier Technology, Glanbia, Loenbro, Pro-Pipe Fabrication, Partner Steel, Industrial Metal Enterprises, Lincoln Electric, and Miller. 

Agriculture Division:
1st - Jake Price - Bear Lake
2nd -Tyson Smith - Bear Lake
3rd - Porter Woolstenhulme - Bear Lake
4th - Ryken Christopherson - Bear Lake
5th - Macky Ricks - Blackfoot

Trade & Industrial Division:
1st - Benjamin Perez - Skyview
2nd - Hunter Cardoza - Skyview
3rd - Johnny Miranda - Cassia Regional Technical Center
4th - Dominique Caruso - Skyview
5th - Ethan McCarty- Cassia Regional Technical Center

Written Test:
1st - Ryan Anderson - Butte
2nd - Bruce Reamers - Meridian
3rd - Johnathan Mundt- Shelley

GTAW (TIG) Test:
1st - Benjamin Perez - Skyview
2nd - Hunter Cardoza - Skyview
3rd - Ryan Anderson - Butte

Agriculture Teams:
1st - Jake Price, Tyson Smith, and Ryken Christopherson - Bear Lake
2nd - Tyler Vaccaro, Macky Ricks, and Kayson Christianson - Blackfoot
3rd - Rily Teuscher, Porter Woostenhulme, Dawson Beard - Bear Lake