One of three George H.W. Bush New Tech Odessa’s barbecue teams has qualified for state competition through a regional contest at O’Donnell High School.
For the first contest of the season, there were 26 teams competing. Teams out of NTO were Grate Grillin’, BBQ Cupcakes and West Texas Smokers. The contest was organized by High School BBQ Inc. and held Sept. 27-28.
It was the BBQ Cupcakes that qualified for state, Culinary Arts teacher Christina Acosta said.
Students competed in brisket, ribs, chicken, beans and dessert.
Acosta said they worked for 13 hours before the meet.
“I think they did really well considering how close to the beginning of the school year (they are). They only had one practice before this regional competition,” Acosta said.
They’re going to brush up on their cooking skills in the meantime.
The students had lots of fun participating in the contest.
Acosta was surprised that the day of the competition, once they got the results, the students said they wanted to take part in another regional competition before state in April.
“It’s very surprising to know, they’ve been up since four o’clock in the morning; they worked the whole entire day. We didn’t get home till like six o’clock that evening. So for them to be the one saying, When can we do another regional? It’s pretty exciting,” Acosta said.
Sariaha Cooper said she took part in barbecue last year.
“It was a learning experience and I wanted to do it again and try to place higher than what I did last year,” Cooper said.
Elmeanua Rutherford said she went to a state practice and really liked it.
“It was just really fun,” she added.
Rutherford said another motivation was that she likes brisket made by a guy that got second place.
Destanie Chandler and Acosta said ribs that are tender, but not necessarily falling apart are probably going to win something.
Acosta expressed gratitude to Cory Branscom, a barbecue competition expert, for his help. He wasn’t able to come to their practices, but Acosta was able to correspond with him to get tips for the students on timelines for when to do things during the cooking process to be successful in the competition.
“His help, no doubt, has been instrumental,” Acosta said.
Kayden Freeman, who placed second in brisket on the Grate Grillin’ team, was able to train with Branscom last year.
“I think that is the reason why the students have been so successful is the input that has come in helping them along the way to know what to look for; how to prep things; how to wrap the ribs; the chicken with two layers of glaze on (it); how to set the glaze; what is the roper timeline to get it set, to still serve it warm,” Acosta said.
“There are a lot of little tricks and help that have been passed along to the students to help them to be successful,” she added.
The state competition will be held at Quarry Park in Granite Shoals in April 2025.
Results (Anyone that scores in the top 10 earns points; those who don’t do not score any points)
Grate Grillin’
Brisket
- Kayden Freeman — 2nd
Ribs
- Sarah Cooper — 11th
Chicken
- Brandon Lopez — 12th
Beans
- Leah Garza — 12th
Dessert
- Bailey Flores — 23rd
BBQ Cupcakes
Brisket
- Josiah Mendoza — 20th
Ribs
- Ailyne Arteaga — 2nd
Chicken
- Jacob Levario — 13th
Beans
- Gracie Bustos — 5th
Dessert
- Elmeanua Rutherford — 22nd
West Texas Smokers
Brisket
- Ezra Duran — 18th
Ribs
- Destanie Chandler — 9th
Chicken
- Destanie Chandler — 2nd
Beans
- Kaley Branum — 15th
Dessert
- Destanie Chandler — 19th
- Iliana Bustamante — 19th
