TEMPLE, Texas — Temple High School’s Temple Pitmasters BBQ Team will once again have the opportunity to see how it stacks up against the nation’s best after the Pitmasters again made the cut to qualify for the National Cookoff.
The THS Pitmasters posted a third-place overall finish at the Texas High School BBQ Association State Competition last weekend in Burnet to claim a spot in the organization’s National Cookoff, known as “The Slab.” The Pitmasters were state champions in the chicken competition and the team’s Dutch oven dessert took fourth place in that category out of the 110 teams competing in the state contest. All five of the members of the Temple HS Pitmasters are new to the team this year and will be making their first trip to the national stage. That fact makes this taste of success even sweeter.
“It is exciting, and we are very happy to be in this position,” Joe Medrano said. “A lot of people don’t realize that this is hard, and you really have to dedicate time to it. You have to practice, you have to commit, and you can’t just expect to show up and cook once a month and be successful.”
“At the beginning of the year, I wasn’t sure we would even make it to state, so this is a surprise for me,” said team member Alex Mungia. “Most things I join don’t get past state, so I was shocked when I found out we were going to nationals, but it feels great.”
Temple’s five-person team is made up of Mungia, a senior, juniors Hunter Frank and Travis Scantling, sophomore Colton McKenney, and freshman Maxwell Morrison, and the Pitmasters are coached by Joe and Allison Medrano. Each team member is responsible for a specific food item that must be turned in on a very rigid timeline during competition. Mungia is the upside-down Dutch oven dessert specialist, Scantling handles the ribeye steaks, Frank oversees the grilled cheese, Morrison is in charge of ribs, and McKenney is the chicken specialist. It was his win in the chicken category that helped clinch the spot in the National Cookoff.
“It doesn’t feel real yet to be honest, that I am a state champion,” McKenney said. “The first practice, when I stepped on Mr. Medrano’s driveway, after I took the first bite of chicken I had cooked, I said, this is what I am going to do. I was felt good about our chances to make it to nationals at the beginning of the year, but after we barely made it to state, I thought we might need to think about building toward next year.”
Building a new team has been a challenge after just two students showed up for the first team meeting. But it didn’t take long for the team to come together once the five members were in place. Now, the group is learning not only the cooking skills needed to be successful, but other skills that they will use long after the national competition is over.
“I didn’t know how this was going to go because we lost all of our cookers from last year,” Medrano said. “I wasn’t sure what I was going to get. Once they got to know each other and felt comfortable around each other, I knew everything was going to be okay.”
“There is a lot of aspects about barbecue that involve teamwork, between all of the cooking and helping out your teammates.” Frank said. “We just need to lock it in between now and nationals, but it feels great to be in this position to compete.”
“I’ve learned a lot about leadership and teamwork,” Mungia added. “I’ve learned how to work with new people and how to deal with people and help them focus and pay attention. I’ve also learned that these guys are pretty good at cooking. Those skills are going to help me in my career because I want to become a game warden and need to know how to deal with people.”
“I’ve always liked cooking, and I’ve always loved eating barbecue,” McKenney said. “I have learned how to cut chicken properly, I’ve learned to cook barbecue, and I’ve learned good leadership skills. I have learned skills I didn’t know I could have, and that is going to set me up for the future.”
The team will have about three weeks to practice and prepare for “The Slab,” which will be held at The Colony High School June 7-10. There will also be another category at the national competition, with pork shoulder added to the mix. The students say there is still work to do and things they can tweak between now and then, but after a full schedule of cookoffs this year, the first-year competitors feel like seasoned veterans. And there is absolutely no hesitation about the goal for the national competition.
“Third place out of 110 teams at state, I’m not sure they realize what they did,” Medrano said. “They bested some of the best teams in Texas, now we just need to go show the nation.”
“To win first place and be the National Champion,” said Frank.
“To go and win the National Championship,” Mungia said.
“We want go to sweep first place in every category,” McKenney added.
This year’s trip to the National Competition will give the Temple Pitmasters an opportunity to add to their list of successes. The group is the defending national champion in pork shoulder and the Temple Pitmasters also finished a Reserve Grand Champions at the 2023 National Cookoff.