FMHS trades team in Louisville for national competition

BY CHUCK VANDENBERG
PCC EDITOR

LOUISVILLE, Ken. - Four of Fort Madison High School's finest are in Louisville right now getting ready to represent Fort Madison and the state of Iowa in US Skills competition against 51 other teams from around the country.

It's the first time a team from Fort Madison has qualified for the national competition. The Bloodhounds qualified after winning the state competition back in April. That team consisted of seniors Elton Kruse and AJ Nolting, and juniors Parker Denning and Brandon Reichelt. Reichelt was unable to make the trip to Louisville, so junior Danen Settles, who went to the state competition in April as an alternate will step in.

FMHS building trades instructor Clint Kobelt said after a walk-through Monday that the arena and competition set up has been pretty intimidating for the Bloodhounds.

"When we were walking through the venue, you could see the scope of the national competition was a little overwhelming," Kobelt said this afternoon. "The conversation we had was don't let the geography get to you. Carpentry is the same in this setting as it is in Iowa, as it is at our shop, and as it is on the job site. The expectations are the same."

Senior Elton Kruse said the venue is a little more than they expected, but he's welcoming the challenge.

"It is, but I'm excited to see where we stack up and I think it's a good thing and I'm glad to be competing with more people," Kruse said.

"Simply from the size of the venue, this is nationals and it's a lot bigger than other venues we've competed at. It's the real deal and I'm excited to see what we can do."

Kobelt said he, too, was surprised at the size of the competition. Fort Madison will be competing against a team from every state including the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The Bloodhounds are competing in the TeamWorks competition, but Kobelt said there are more than 100 other competitions going on at the same venue.

The event called the Skills USA Team Leadership and Skills Conference takes place at the Kentucky Exposition Center in downtown Louisville.

"I didn't understand the true scope of this competition. There are 103 different competitions going on here this week," Kobelt said. "Everything from welding to collision repair, to electrical to HVAC. Everything you can imagine on the skills side all the way to forensics, crime scene investigation...firefighting. This is a huge event."

The Hounds qualified by beating 11 other Iowa high school teams at the state qualifier at Des Moines Area Community College in April. The state competition and nationals are different formats, according to Kobelt.

"This is a 3-day build and tomorrow morning they will receive their blueprints. There's a lot more layers at the national level than at state," he said.

"They are required to take those blue prints and they're given a limited amount of time to come up with action plans and then are required to give a presentation on how they intend to execute and complete that build over the allotted time."

Kobelt said at the state level the students got their information, huddled up, and picked a foreman on the team that sort of ran in a supervisor capacity. He said this competition requires all four team members to participate in the presentation and show how they individually will be an asset and what their contribution is.

"One guy is more comfortable with public speaking, but now everybody is accountable in a team setting. So everybody is under the microscope," Kobelt said.

He said his focus was for the students to represent the state and Fort Madison well and in a positive fashion.

"I want to the guys to come out of this with a true understanding, no matter how it falls, that they are one of the top 50 teams in the nation. I understand the nerves and the trepidation about where you fall. But as far as them wondering if they really belong here....they've already punched that ticket."

"I think it's kind of like the testing year and then we'll see what we do next year. We've got two juniors on the team so it's good for them to be here," Kruse said.

Nolting said the pressure will seem greater than the state competition, but he said the state competition was greater than regional competitions.

"I'm a little nervous because the pressure's going to be on a little more than state. We haven't been here yet and it's really new to us and if we got in the top 15 I would think that would be a win for us," he said.

Denning said the presentation is a different facet than the squad is used to.

"I can see it being different because we have to create a PowerPoint presentation on how we're going to tackle everything and not just keep to ourselves and go about the work," he said. "But I just think it's something that we have to map out. We can handle it."

Settles, who wrestled at the Iowa State Wrestling Tournament this winter as a heavyweight, said he really doesn't get nervous about these types of things. Despite not participating in the state qualifier, he's still ready to go.

"I'm just ready to go. I don't really get nervous. I kinda don't really think much about that kind of thing. I'm not really sure how to explain it, I just don't," he said.

"But it's been awesome being down here so far. Everyone we've talked to and encountered have asked where we're from and most people have heard of us."

The contest features more than 6,400 students in 130 events including 103 hands-on skills competitions. The event has a $36 million budget annually.

The Bloodhounds will have orientation sessions on Tuesday with an opening ceremony set for 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday are the Skills USA Championship competitions running from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and an award ceremony is Friday beginning at 5 p.m.