December 7, 2018

By Clint DeBoer

IDEAL NATIONAL CHAMPTIONSHIP ANNUAL ELECTRICIANS COMPETITION

We partnered with Ideal Industries this year to bring you a first-hand look at the 2018 Ideal National Championship for electricians. Dubbed the Ideal Nationals, there’s no more intense or visible display of trade skill in this field. The Ideal Nationals—in a nutshell—pit tradesman against tradesman in a national electricians competition to crown a champ. Even better—cash prizes and tool prizes were at stake. Below we list the 2018 Ideal National Championship winners.

We like the idea of honoring talented tradesmen and giving them an opportunity to win cash and tool prizes. Each year, Ideal hosts their annual electrician’s competition in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The Ideal National Championship tests installation speed while also monitoring safety skills. This year, the Ideal National Championship is expected to see more than 30,000 participants and award over $600,000 in prizes.

The Ideal Nationals Competition

Ideal Electrical organized the annual Nationals competition to encourage young people to seek careers as electricians and related careers. By most job data analyses, the country lacks enough skilled labor to fill needs over the next generation. Also, the U.S. Department of Labor has identified more than 70,000 electrical trade-related job availabilities available to high schoolers and trade school graduates over the next several years. Competition is a great encourager and Ideal Industries brings a lot of interest and excitement with their annual electrician’s competition.

The 2018 Ideal National Championship Winners 

Pro Contestant

First Place Prize: One Pro contestant placing first will receive a $75,000 cash prize, awarded as a check and a trophy commemorating their win. The First Place Pro’s contractor will receive $5,000 in IDEALcash, which can be used towards the purchase of IDEAL products on www.idealind.com.
2018 WINNER: Greg Anliker

Second Place Prize: One Pro contestant placing second will receive a $25,000 cash prize, awarded as a check commemorating their win.
2018 WINNER: Roman Ryszewski

Third Place Prize: One Pro contestant placing third will receive a $10,000 cash prize, awarded as a check commemorating their win.
2018 WINNER: Erik Martin

Student Contestants

First Place Prize: One Student contestant placing first will receive a $30,000 cash prize, awarded as a check and a trophy commemorating their win. The First Place Student’s school will receive $5,000 in IDEALcash.
2018 WINNER: Benjamin Budd

Second Place Prize: One Student contestant placing second will receive a $20,000 cash prize, awarded as a check commemorating their win.
2018 WINNER: Michael Yass

Third Place Prize: One Student contestant placing third will receive a $10,000 cash prize, awarded as a check commemorating their win.
2018 WINNER: Corbin Rios

Team Prizes

First Prize – Pro Team: One Pro Team placing first will receive a $60,000 cash prize, to be divided equally among the three Team competitors, awarded as a check and a trophy commemorating their win. The Pro Team’s contractor will receive $5,000 in IDEALcash.
2018 WINNERS: Kellenberger Electric—Greg Anliker, Will Barnett, and Clayton Noga

First Prize – Student Team: One Student Team placing first will receive a $30,000 cash prize, to be divided equally among the three Team competitors, awarded as a check and a trophy commemorating their win. The Student Team’s school will receive $5,000 in IDEALcash.
2018 WINNERS: J Becher Minneapolis JATC—Katherine Flanery, Patrick Flanery, and Jeremy Welle

The Competition

Each year tens of thousands of union and non-union electricians, as well as students and apprentices, enter the Ideal Nationals Competition. The qualifying rounds take place each year at electrical distributors and trade schools across the country. We’re talking over 1,000 local and regional competitions designed to identify finalists who then progress to the Ideal National Championship.

Judging the Competition

The judging at the 2018 Ideal National Championship was fierce. At various times across the different levels of competition, the judges looked at the following metrics:

• Box placement
• Conduit Offsets
• Circuit breaker selection and installation
• Conductor installation
• Grounding & Binding
• Device installation
• Proper torquing
• Overall workmanship
• Correct circuit operation
• Work area and safety

All judging is based on both speed and accuracy.

For more information on The Ideal National Championship, click here. For photos and videos from this year’s competition, visit Ideal

Electrical’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/IDEALindustries.

(Taken from protoolreviews.com)

For original article, click here.