(WACO) –  Texas State Technical College’s Diesel Equipment Technology program hosted on Wednesday a Texas FFA Association Tractor Technician Competition involving nine high school teams from North and Central Texas.

In the Texas FFA Association’s Area 5, Denton High School placed first, Weatherford High School came in second and Mansfield High School placed third.

“We took tests from last year and studied those,” said Jacob Klein, 18, a Denton High School senior. “We also went to two practice contests. It was difficult today but, it feels really good.”

In the Texas FFA Association’s Area 8, Midway High School placed first, Academy High School came in second and Elkhart High School placed third.

“It was our first year (at the competition) and we did not know what to expect,” said Coy Wadsworth, a Midway High School senior. “We haven’t seen any of these types of tractors before. We just went through the process of how to diagnose the problems.”

Other teams competing were from Axtell High School, Teague High School and Riesel High School.

The top three teams from each area will compete in a state FFA tractor competition in March at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Teams of three students took a written test and did a parts identification test sponsored by Tarleton State University.  The students performed a troubleshooting exercise on John Deere and Kubota tractors donated for the competition by United Ag & Turf and Tipton International, both in Waco. Students drove the tractors once the teams found and fixed the problems.

TSTC’s Diesel Equipment Technology program instructors and students created the problems the high school students found in the tractors and served as contest judges.

Joseph Frazier, 18, a TSTC Diesel Equipment Technology major from Frost, competed in the 2017 area contest held on campus as a member of Frost High School’s team. He said he enjoyed being on the other end of the contest, working with his classmates and watching the high school students be challenged on their tractor knowledge.

“I know it’s tough to find the bugs, but it’s a great learning experience,” Frazier said.

John Goebel, a TSTC Diesel Equipment Technology instructor and event organizer, said he wanted the high school students to learn about tractor models and consider the technical college in their academic future. He said several current DET students were in FFA in high school.

Snap-on Inc. donated many of the tools given as prizes to teams and individual winners.

“I try to work with colleges because these guys need to know in their careers that professional tools last longer and have quality,” said John Tilmon, a company account manager based in Tyler.

For more on the Texas FFA Association, go to texasffa.org.

For more information on TSTC, go to tstc.edu.