Blinn announces the 2022 Agricultural Mechanics Project Show winners

More than 140 high school students and 4-H members from across Texas showcased their skills

April 29, 2022

Clayton Curl’s 3o-foot trailer was the grand champion entry at the Blinn College District Agricultural Mechanics Project Show.

Clayton Curl already has a plan for his prize-winning trailer. He’s giving it away.

Curl, from Fredericksburg High School, was named the grand champion at the Blinn College District Agricultural Mechanics Project Show held Wednesday at the W.J. “Bill” Rankin Agricultural Complex on the Brenham Campus.

The reserve grand champion was Krista Sifuentes’ rotating welding table.

Curl’s entry – a 30-foot slide-axle gooseneck trailer that tilts – was judged cream of the crop in a contest that ranged from restored tractors to barbecue stations. More than 100 projects were entered, with welding and metal cutting contests drawing approximately 140 participants.

Curl said his trailer took 683 hours to build.

“I’m really happy about this. I just kind of thought of it (the concept for the trailer) and figured it out,” he said after his project was announced as the top entry. “Now I’m going to give it to my grandparents.”

Sifuentes, who attends the Agriculture Science & Technology Academy in Helotas near San Antonio, said her entry – which is technically called a “rotating fixture table” – came at the request of her family.

 “My family was like, ‘Hey, build us a welding table. We need a new one,’ but I didn’t want it to be generic,” she said, “so I did a little research on fixture tables. I decided to make it electric because that’s more efficient. As I went along building the project, I gathered all the tools I used and figured out how to add them to the table. It took a lot of planning and thinking, and I got advice from professionals who know how to use this.”

The result is a table that has a lot of bells and whistles. It can also rotate clockwise and counterclockwise a full 360 degrees.

Sifuentes estimated that she spent approximately 530 hours on the table. She started construction in June 2021 and finished in January this year.

A rotating welding table built by Krista Sifuentes was reserve grand champion at the Blinn College District Agricultural Mechanics Project Show.

“I thought it was just wonderful to see all the hard work and dedication those young people put into their projects,” said Debbi Vavra, Dean of the Division of Arts, Kinesiology, and Agriculture. “Events like this make a real impact and create special memories, and that’s what it’s all about.”

Jenna Rice, a Blinn agricultural sciences student from Waller, was among the volunteers who helped make the show a success. Rice said she was amazed at the work put in by the exhibitors.

“We have a little bit of everything,” she said. “The ages of these kids and what they’re building – everything is amazing. They’re showing marketable skills, and we need this. They can make a very good living with these basic skills.”

Division winners were:

● Division 1 – First, Krista Sifuentes, Ag Science and Technology Academy; second, Tanner Patrick, Frost.

● Division 2 – First, Raeliegh Taylor, Cayuga; second, Lathan Phillips, Logan Jones, Karly Brown, and Caleb Kimmey, Van Vleck.

● Division 3 – First, Adrian Bernal, Brandon Bernay, and Chris Bernal, Ag Science and Technology Academy; second, Tucker Taylor, not listed.

● Division 4 – First, Clayton Curl, Fredericksburg; second, Cole Myers, Adan Espinosa, Ryan MacMillan, Lillian Poole, Connor Petty, and Landon Salinas, Fairfield.

● Division 5 – First, Kyan Frisbee, Ethan Green, Grant Owens, Tyler Owens, and Cutter Frisbee, Waxahachie; second, Brighton Muller, El Campo.

● Division 6 – First, Ethan Van Pelden, Ag Science and Technology Academy; second, Floresville High School.

Class winners were:

● Class 1 – First, Ty Chandler, Jacksonville; second, Edwyn Rivera, Morton; third, Hagan Sebesta, Snook.

● Class 2 – First, Nicolas Muniz and Vaughn Mata, Palacios.

● Class 3 – First, Mason Zumwalt, Samir Vaishnani, and Austian Dixon, Ag Science and Technology Academy; second, James Steglich, Holland; third, Landon Mabry, Winnsboro.

● Class 4 – First, Parker Prichard, Aledo.

● Class 5 – First, Krista Sifuentes, Ag Science and Technology Academy; second, Wyatt Young, Bell County 4-H; third, Rileigh Dinges, Bellville.

● Class 6 – First, Tanner Patrick, Frost; second, Rylan Stork, Round Top-Carmine; third, Colton Butler, Cody Corsten, Walker Allen, Logan Teykl, and Pierce McKinney, Needville.

● Class 7 – First, Toby Jourdan and Haden Goolsby, Cayuga; second, Logan Campbell, River Bonds, Wyatt Burts, Brady Williams, and Collin Glass, Fairfield; third, Will Herring, Keaton Robbins, Kylee Rundgren, and Tyler Teale, Tomball.

● Class 8 – First, Kimber Sebesta and Mckenzie Sebesta, Snook; second, Bayli Honeycutt, Kolton Goolsby, and Seth Barker, Cayuga; third, Johnny Gomez, Oglesby.

● Class 9 – First, Lathan Phillips, Logan Jones, Karly Brown, and Caleb Kimmey, Van Vleck; second, Matthew Castrillo, Oglesby; third, Cody Rangnow, Cuero.

● Class 10 – First, Raeleigh Taylor, Cayuga; second, R.C. Woolery, Florence; third, Navasota FFA.

● Class 11 – First, Brandon Gomez and Barrett Rabel, Mercedes; second, Luke Nixon, Ganado; third, Garrett Davenport, Kathryn Polycrates, John Turner, Cole Hubenak, Lillian Fiser, and Zach Barber, Foster FFA.

● Class 12 – First, Adrian Bernal, Brandon Bernay, and Clay Bernal, Ag Science and Technology Academy; second, Tucker Taylor, Weatherford; third, Corbin Haber, Aledo.

● Class 13 – First, Clayton Curl, Frederickburg; second, Cole Myers, Adan Espinoza, Ryan MacMillan, Lillian Poole, Connor Petty, and Landon Salinas, Fairfield; third, J. Beaux Hruska, Seth Groce, and John See IV, Snook.

● Class 14 – First, Jose Ruiz, Jesse Trevino, Jesus Villalobos, and Ryan Lackey, Mercedes; second, Dakota Grooves, Rains; third, Jace Mitchell and Cody Ellison, Winnsboro.

● Class 15 – First, Jaycee Lockhart, Lampasas.

● Class 16 – First, Alejandro Garza, Southwest; second, Wyatt Smith, Thorndale; third, Julian Azua, Sudan.

● Class 17 – First, Kyan Frisbee, Ethan Green, Grant Owens, Tyler Owens, and Cutter Frisbee, Waxahachie; second, Dylan Hayes, Troup; third, Owen Abbe, Bryan Gonzales, and Brandon Maldenado, Corsicana.

● Class 18 – First, Raul Guerrero, East Central; second, Isidro Solis and Janessa Medrano, Venus; third, Jayson Price, Tucker Adkins, and Dominic Martinez, Jarrell FFA.

● Class 19 – First, Trailer Vavra, Reis Bowers, and Jacob Arguijo, Palacios; second, Adacely Aguirre and Juliet Savedra, Taft FFA; third, David Garcia and Jeryn Gilbreath, Hooks FFA.

● Class 20 – First, Chastity Jordan, Maypearl; second, Ava Bowers, Teagan Duke, Bethany Grones, and Anabelle Starrett, Palacios; third, Ryan Luckey, Rockdale.

● Class 21 – First, Brighton Muller, El Campo; second, Jaden Adams, East Central; third, Luke Huebner, Welcome 4-H.

● Class 22 – First, Taygon Pieprzyca and Straton Pieprzyca, Rice Consolidated; second, Jacob Mueller, El Campo; third, Connor Bellow, Seven Lakes.

● Class 23 – First, Marian Vara, Taft FFA.

● Class 26 – First, Ethan Van Pelden, Ag Science and Technology Academy; second, Floresville FFA; third, William Travis Harrison, Klein Forest.

There were no entries in Classes 24 and 25.

Winner of the welding contest was Alejandro Perez. Jarrett Vavra won the cutting contest.

Blinn’s Agricultural Sciences Program is approximately four times the size of any other two-year agricultural program in the state and is based at the Rankin Agricultural Complex. For more information, visit www.blinn.edu/agricultural-sciences .