Apprentices Put Their Skills to the Test in National HVAC Competition
Nine HVAC apprentices from across the U.S. recently gathered in Deadwood, S.D., to compete at Plumbing-Heating-Cooling-Contractors (PHCC) Educational Foundation’s recently revamped National HVAC Apprenticeship Competition. The competition took place in conjunction with the South Dakota PHCC’s state convention, which included seminars and hands-on demonstrations for high school students who are interested in trades careers.
The competition has evolved to focus on real-world troubleshooting
Apprentices at the 2026 competition were tasked with installing a complete split system heat pump, which involved piping, wiring, and vacuum charging to the manufacturer's specifications.
Different from previous years, this year’s competition rolled out a new format intended to prepare apprentices for real-world troubleshooting. The new format is a pilot program led by South Dakota contractors Dan Hartman of Wolff’s Plumbing and Heating and Brett Kaltvedt of Midwestern Mechanical who rethought the competition format to focus on high-stakes HVAC field assembly rather than the technical stations featured in previous competitions.
Winners of this year’s competition include:
- First Place– Cole Kelley, Pipefitters Local 537, Boston
- Second Place– Jantzen Fisher, Midwestern Mechanical, Rapid City, S.D.
- Third Place– Will Lauseng, Waterbury Heating & Cooling, Sioux Falls, S.D.