By Marcus Jensen | Utah State University
PRICE, Utah — Continuing a history of program excellence, Utah State University Eastern student Benjamin Cornaby will compete in the final round of the USA Weld Trials later this month.
Cornaby is one of three finalists for the United States, with the winner advancing to the WorldSkills competition to represent the USA in Shanghai in September. Cornaby has been the top collegiate welder in each of the past two years, winning back-to-back SkillsUSA national competitions.
If he wins the USA Weld Trials, it will be the third consecutive WorldSkills competition to feature a USU Eastern student as the USA representative, after Wyatt Hansen in 2024 and Jordan Packer in 2022.
“I’ve been working toward the goal of representing the USA at WorldSkills for over two years now,” Cornaby said. “I want to look back knowing I did my best when I could, and my goal is that the week of competing at Worlds will feel like any other training week that I do leading up to it.”
The competition will last about 18 hours. Cornaby has been training unceasingly for the competition, working to refine his craft and take steps to improve each day. He averages about 65 hours of practice each week. Austin Welch, one of his mentors at USU Eastern, says that the dedication it takes to be prepared and competitive at the international level is something few people are capable of.
“It takes years,” said Welch, an associate professor of welding. “Ben is operating now at a level of confidence that is attainable only after the amount of preparation he’s put into this. This allows Ben to execute his game plan and keep performing even when things in the competition go wrong or unforeseen changes come up.”
The USA Weld Trials are nothing new for Cornaby, as he was the second-place finisher in 2024 behind his fellow USU comrade Wyatt Hansen. Since then, Cornaby has continued to seek daily improvement. He understands the abilities that his fellow competitors will have and the hours, months and years that have been put into their own plans.
“Knowing that I am one of three competitors nationwide makes me think about the time and effort the other two competitors must have had to sacrifice to get to where they are today,” Cornaby said. “We can all relate to each other in that regard, and we are some of the few that understand what it takes to get to this level. Now that I’ve had the chance to meet and get to know them a little better, I respect them as fellow competitors and what they stand for. I can tell that each of us has an instructor who cares about us as people and invests in our future.”
Cornaby says staying mentally sharp will be the biggest challenge of the 18-hour competition. While welding comes naturally to him at this point because of the time he has put into it, the need to consistently be self-critical of the work and continually chasing perfection is the hardest part. He hopes to represent everyone who has helped him make it this far.
“If I earn the WorldSkills spot, it would give me immense satisfaction and gratitude to represent all the people who have helped me and pushed me to get to this level,” he said. “I stand on the shoulders of many who believed in me as a person and gave me the confidence to keep pushing my limits. My instructors at USU Eastern are truly world class, and incredible human beings. I owe much of my success to them. It would also be an honor to represent my parents, who have supported me through all my decisions in life.”
The USA Weld Trials will be Feb. 28-March 6 in Huntsville, Alabama. To learn more, visit aws.org/community-and-events/competitions.