On Saturday, students from across the state competed in a fast-paced collision repair challenge, testing their skills in painting, welding and frame analysis.

Students from high school to college had just 45 minutes to show off their collision repair skills in six stations. One of the key challenges was mastering dent repair to get those tricky gaps smooth and seamless.

“Really focusing on what it looked like before it got in a collision so we can best replicate how it looks after we do our work to it,” said Colby Wagner, a high school senior.

Wagner was one of 25 students participating in the 3M SkillsUSA Minnesota contest.

Painting, welding and frame analysis are key components for auto repair that can also be used in other trade professions.

“It’s amazing work,” Wagner added. “It’s hard work but fun. It’s definitely a dying art these days; not many people want to do it, but it is a work that we all love.”

He says he’s following in his grandfather’s footsteps and is graduating with a job already lined up at a body shop.

Dan Wittek, the 3M director of global application engineering for the Automotive Aftermarket Division, competed around 30 years ago as a student.

“We’re trying to get across the importance of skilled trades and all the things that we’re doing to really elevate and make it just kind of society aware of all of the great career paths that you can have, and collision repair being just one of them,” Wittek said.

It’s a full circle moment as he encourages those younger to hone in on trade skills.

“If you have a young person that’s already figured it out that’s like, ‘I’m here to help people and fix their car,’ I think that’s sensational,” Wittek noted.