College of Southern Idaho Hosts Annual Welding Wars

24 area High Schools and Technical Colleges compete in a regional welding competition.

TWIN FALLS, ID, UNITED STATES, April 1, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Friday, March 21st the College of Southern Idaho (CSI) hosted their annual Welding Wars event for over 130 high school welding students. This is the 8th year for CSI to host the event and it brought top talent from 24 high schools across Idaho and Utah together to celebrate the skilled trades.

Welding Wars tested students with both an individual welding competition and a team fabrication competition. Contestants were given a unique project design and four hours to build it. Kyle Cox, one of the student participants, expressed his enthusiasm: “I’ve never been to a welding competition, and it’s pretty competitive. I enjoy the competitive aspect of it, and I enjoy welding, so it’s pretty fun.” Judging the event were industry experts, Shannen Aranmor from Project MFG and Kerry Shatell, Vice President of the American Welding Society. Thanks to generous sponsor donations, the winners and participants walked away with over $35,000 worth of prizes. The First place individual winner was invited to participate in Project MFG’s National Welding league Championship June 5-7 at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan.

The winners were as follows:
1st Place Individual - Matthew Nonato from Grants Pass High School in Grants Pass, OR – Advisor: Jake Leair

2nd Place Individual - Ben Perez from Skyview High School in Nampa, ID – Advisor: Isaac Rodriguez

3rd Place Individual - Elijah Sweet from Grants Pass High School in Grants Pass, OR – Advisor: Jake Leair

1st Place Team Fabrication - Tosh Shakya, Mace Olson, Eli Cluff from Maple Mountain High School in Spanish Fork, UT – Advisor: Jared Massic

2nd Place Team Fabrication - Owen Hull, Terrance Blair, Izaak Gallegos from Grants Pass High School in Grants Pass, OR – Advisor: Jake Leair

3rd Place Team Fabrication - Wade Dailey, Garrett Waymire, Treyson Gamett from Butte High School in Arco, ID – Advisor: Matt Nelson

Beyond the competition, the event also featured a Career Discovery segment, giving students the chance to connect with 20 industry vendors and manufacturers. This opportunity allowed students to network and explore local job prospects, with many also engaging in mock interviews to sharpen their job-seeking skills.

Clay Wilkie, a welding instructor at CSI, shared his goals for the event: “I hope they leave with more connections in welding and see the bigger picture in welding. I also hope they learn things about welding procedures and projects.”

While the students competed, welding instructors had the chance to participate in an Instructor Forum led by Shannen Aranmor. The forum focused on unraveling the complexities of welding terminology in what Aranmor called the “AWS Alphabet Soup.” As she explained, “What we’re going to do is unravel a few mysteries of more complicated welding topics, and we’re calling it the AWS Alphabet Soup. We’ll talk about things like WPS, PQR, SWPS… There are so many acronyms that it feels like an alphabet soup!”

This year’s Welding Wars not only provided a fun and challenging competition for students but also served as a valuable educational experience, fostering connections between aspiring welders, industry experts, and potential employers. It’s clear that the event continues to grow in both significance and impact for the local welding community.

For more information about Project MFG and future events,
please visit projectmfg.com or contact media@projectmfg.com.

Amy Moyer
Project MFG
+1 913-634-5404
email us here