Photo by Derek Redd Ryder Gainer, left, of Belmont County Career Center and Ryder Muntz of Swiss Hills Career Center look over the other students’ work at the inaugural weldiing competition at the Ironworkers Local 549 in Wheeling.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Some of the top welding students from around the Ohio Valley were able to test their skills and compare themselves to other regional students Wednesday morning, as the Ironworkers Local 549 in Wheeling held a welding contest for high school and vocational school welders.

Thirteen welders from five local schools — Belmont County Career Center, Harrison County Career Center, Swiss Hills Career Center, Brooke High School and John Marshall High School — entered this inaugural competition. They performed both a vertical and overhead weld and professionals judged their finished products.

“We have a lot of really good programs for the high schools and vocational schools,” said Stephen Sipos, apprenticeship coordinator for Ironworkers Local 549. “I don’t think that the students have an idea sometimes where to go to use the skills they learn.

“This kind of showcases what we have to offer,” he added, “and what they can bring to the table, real-world applications, what to expect on a job site and what to expect in our apprenticeship program.”

The tasks given to the students Wednesday are the tasks given during the welding test certification process, so the event gives the students a practice run on what they’ll do later.

Ryder Gainer from the Belmont County Career Center said Wednesday’s event was a great learning experience.

“It’s pretty helpful to compete with other people and see how everybody else does,” he said. “You can see what everyone else is doing and how it worked out for them and then you can try it and see if it works for you. It’s really helpful to everybody.”

Brooke High welding instructor Larry Jones said events like this are great opportunities for students to gain some real-world experience before they actually trek into the real world.

“It shows you how competitive it is and what it takes to get good jobs,” Jones said. “It prepares them for when they go out on a site and prepares them for this type of work.”

Sipos said he’d like to expand the event in future years and entice more schools to bring their students to compete.