Skip To Main Content

Medalists Crowned at SkillsUSA State Competition

Post RSS Feeds Subscribe to Post Alerts
Medalists Crowned at SkillsUSA State Competition
A large group of people wearing matching blue shirts stand in front of a brick Erie 1 BOCES building.

Nearly 40 Erie 1 BOCES SkillsUSA students put their talents on display at the State Fairgrounds in Syracuse from April 22-24, competing in the New York State SkillsUSA Leadership and Skills Championships.

Erie 1 BOCES had a successful week of competition, with six students taking home medals representing all four Career and Technical Education (CTE) Centers. 

The image shows a young man in a suit and tie holding a yellow banner that says "SkillsUSA NY State First Place Winner" and "Carpenter's Assistant Basic". le.

Alex Barry, a senior from Lackawanna, won first place in Carpenter’s Assistant Basic, his second straight year taking home the gold medal in the competition. Barry is enrolled in Mr. Grieco’s Building Trades class at the Potter CTE Center.

Ethan Pinto, a senior at Clarence High School, earned a silver medal in Industrial Motor Control. This is Pinto’s second medal of the year, after taking second place at the regional competition for Electrical Construction Wiring. Pinto is a member of Mr. Merlino’s Electrical Systems class at the Harkness CTE Center.

Katie Matson won a bronze medal in Employment Application Procedure. The Frontier senior takes Early Childhood Education with Ms. Lubs at the Potter CTE Center.

Grand Island’s Eden Fancher earned third place in the Cosmetology competition for juniors. She is a member of Ms. Blackman’s Cosmetology program at the Kenton CTE Center.

Finally, the team of Muhsin Munassar, a Lackawanna senior, and Aidan Muffoletto, an Amherst senior, took third place in Web Design and Development. The two students take Ms. Rohloff’s Web Technologies and Game Programming class at the Calspan CTE Center.

All of the SkillsUSA students impressed in Syracuse, displaying career-readiness skills such as teamwork, communication, professionalism, and leadership.

“I’m incredibly proud of the dedication our SkillsUSA students demonstrated at the state championships,” said Associate Director of Career and Technical Education Simone Klubek. "Their hard work and preparation were on full display, as well as the professionalism they demonstrated while representing Erie 1 BOCES among peers from across New York. Congratulations to all of our participants and to our advisors for helping make this week such a success.”

To learn more about SkillsUSA, where students hone their hands-on skills against current industry standards in more than 100 occupational areas, from 3D Animation to Welding and nearly everything in between, visit their website at skillsusa.org.

2026 Erie 1 BOCES SkillsUSA State Medalists

1st Place- Alex Barry (Potter/Lackawanna)- Carpenter’s Assistant Basic (Mr. David Grieco/Building Trades)

2nd Place- Ethan Pinto (Harkness/Clarence)- Industrial Motor Control (Mr. Garth Merlino/Electrical Systems)

3rd Place- Katie Matson (Potter/Frontier)- Employment Application Procedure (Ms. Jaime Lubs/Early Childhood Education)

3rd Place- Eden Fancher (Kenton/Grand Island)- Cosmetology, Junior (Ms. Tracie Blackman/Cosmetology)

3rd Place- Muhsin Munassar (Calspan/Lackawanna) & Aidan Muffoletto (Calspan/Amherst)- Web Design and Development (Ms. Linda Rohloff/Web Technologies and Game Programming)

Check out the Erie 1 BOCES SkillsUSA Regional Medalists.

The image shows a young man holding a certificate and standing in front of a large outdoor event venue, with various people and vehicles visible in the background.
The image shows a young woman wearing a red jacket and holding a bronze medal, standing in front of a backdrop with the SkillsUSA NY State Third Place Winner text.
Two young men in formal attire stand in front of a building, holding certificates and smiling. The background includes trees and a sign indicating they are the third-place winners in a SkillsUSA NY State competition for web design and development.
The image shows a young man in a suit and tie holding a yellow banner that says %22SkillsUSA NY State First Place Winner%22 and %22Carpenter's Assistant Basic%22. le.
The image shows a smiling young woman wearing a black and red jacket and holding a bronze medal. The background features a pink wall with a Skills USA NY State Third Place Winner banner.
A large group of people wearing matching blue shirts stand in front of a brick Erie 1 BOCES building.
A group culinary students, working in a kitchen setting, with various cooking equipment and a cake visible in the foreground.
Two men are standing together in front of a brick building with a paved walkway and landscaping in the background.
The image shows a man wearing a SkillsUSA jacket and glasses, standing on a grassy campus with trees and buildings in the background.
A smiling woman in a red coat stands in a grassy area with a brick building and people walking in the background.
The image shows three smiling women wearing red and black jackets, standing in what appears to be a busy indoor setting with other people in the background.
A woman in a black jacket stands in front of blue partitions with a large red banner overhead in what appears to be an exhibition or trade show setting.
A young woman in a red jacket stands in a crowded exhibition hall, holding a mannequin head in front of her.
The image shows a group of construction workers in a busy work environment, with one worker in the foreground shoveling materials into a wheelbarrow.
A crowded kitchen setting with numerous people in white uniforms working at various stations, surrounded by various cooking equipment and supplies.
A young woman in a white chef's uniform stands on a sidewalk, holding a plate of potato salad, with a colorful background of buildings and a traffic cone.
Two construction workers wearing hard hats are standing in a construction site, surrounded by various tools and materials.
A young man wearing a white hard hat and a blue lanyard stands in front of a wooden workbench in a construction site, with a sign for %22Morton Buildings%22 visible in the background.
The image shows several individuals wearing hard hats and safety gear, standing in what appears to be a construction or workshop environment with various tools and equipment visible in the background.
A man wearing a yellow hard hat and protective gear is working on a construction project in a room with various tools and equipment.
The image shows several construction workers wearing hard hats and safety gear, working on a wooden frame structure in what appears to be an indoor construction site.
The image shows a busy convention or trade show floor, with people in formal attire seated at various stations or booth in a cosmetology competition.
The image shows three people standing in front of a large poster displaying the word %22LIFE%22 and various other text and graphics.
A young woman competes in a cosmetology competition working on a mannequin head.
A young man competes in a cosemtology student, cutting the hair of a mannequin.
Two young women smile at a table in a esthetics competition.