More Than Auto DealersEast Norriton, Pa., March 13, 2026 – The Auto Dealers Association of Greater Philadelphia hosted its 33rd annual Greater Philadelphia Auto Technology Competition (Tech Comp) on Friday, March 6. At the event, 24 area high school seniors put their automotive skills to the test in a hands-on technician skills challenge and competed for more than $1 million in scholarships, tools and prizes.
This year, first place was captured by Konnor Blevins and Jackson Trostle of Technical College High School (TCHS) Brandywine. The winning duo, which was led by Instructor Ryan Kuhnle and sponsored by Del Toyota, walked away with more than $290,000 in scholarships and prizes collectively. Second place was awarded to Haylie Casey and Andrew Detweiler of Berks Career and Technology Center – East. Under the direction of Instructor Dustin Mauger and sponsored by Miracle Chevrolet, the team won more than $200,000 in scholarships and prizes. Joshua Porter and Aidan Zepp of Delaware County Technical High School rounded out the leaderboard with their third-place win. Instructor Pete Dillon and Dealer Sponsor Garnet Ford helped the pair win more than $100,000 in scholarships and prizes, respectively.
During the timed, hands-on automotive technical skills competition, students tested their knowledge at 10 workstations and performed a Multi-Point Inspection of a new vehicle. The competing teams are all local and from the following area schools: Atlantic County Institute of Technology, Berks Career and Technology Center – East, Berks Career and Technology Center – West, Bucks County Technical High School, Camden County Technical School – Sicklerville, Central Montco Technical High School, Delaware County Technical High School – Folcroft, Gloucester County Institute of Technology, Mercer County Technical Schools, North Montco Technical Career Center, Technical College High School (TCHS) Brandywine and Upper Bucks County Technical School.
Today’s auto technicians must have highly-polished math and computer skills in addition to mechanical aptitude. This competition focuses on all those skill sets. The first part of the regional competition involved a record number of area students taking a special written exam last December. The exam covered electric vehicle safety and the eight National Institute of Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) areas of the automobile, which are Engine Repair, Engine Performance, Electrical/Electronic Systems, Brakes, Heating and Air Conditioning, Suspension and Steering, Manual Drive Train and Axles and Automatic Transmissions. There were more than 250 students from the Greater Philadelphia Region who took the written exam. The two highest scoring students from the top 12 schools are those who qualified for the March 6th hands-on portion of the competition.
