Temple High School pitmasters win second at National High School BBQ Championship

TEMPLE, Texas - The Temple High School barbecue pitmasters won the reserve champion prize at the National High School BBQ Competition held in Hutto.

Reserve champion is second overall, and it was quite an accomplishment for a team that's only a year old. They owe a lot of their success to the team's coaches, Joe and Allison Medrano.

"I'm completely amazed. And I told the kids last night as we were eating dinner in Temple, Texas, because we were just so tired. I told them just how proud I was of them and how special this is," says Joe Medrano, one of the coaches for the Temple High School barbecue pit masters team.

Joe and Allison Medrano are relishing this national win. Their team of five high school pitmasters, which includes their son, have spent the last year cooking at the Medranos' home on weekends.

"Oh, yeah, for sure. Well, first, I'm an educator. I've been an educator for 18 years. So having extra kids is this is not new to me," says Allison Medrano, one of the coaches for the Temple High School barbecue pitmasters team.

The team competed against other high schools, qualifying for the national meet which is called the Slab.

"There are a lot of extra dishes. I'm the head dishwasher. That's what I. That's my. That's my title. Head dishwasher, breakfast cook, you know, meet buyer. Like, that's my job. But it's not I mean, we love these kids," says Medrano.

The Temple High School barbecue pitmasters are reserve champions, which is second overall, and it was quite an accomplishment for a team that's only a year old. Photo courtesy: Allison and Joe Medrano

Joe is the hands-on pitmaster coach, but during competitions, he has to keep his distance.

"I can't be in their zone. Okay. You have to leave their cook zone. The only thing I can do is really just advise," says Medrano. 

Barbecuing can be just as demanding as any high school sport, if not more.

"Well, I'm here to tell you, if you would have said in that parking lot for 12 hours like we did the other day, it's harder than any football or baseball game I've ever been in. It was tough. That was probably one of the hottest cook offs of ever had to sit through in my life. We had to deal with the heat, and that in and of itself was tough," says Medrano.

The Medranos see this national victory as a life lesson for their pitmasters. Learning to succeed comes from dedication, discipline and a huge plate of patience.

"But you could not find five kids from such different. Places, different walks of life, different backgrounds, different experiences to come together. And, you know, we graduated three of them this year. And it's really, I love these kids," said Medrano.

The team placed first in pork shoulder, fifth in skirt steak tacos and fourth in chicken.

The national high school BBQ association is based in Round Rock. The award ceremony was held at the Kalahari Resort.