Live coverage: 2025 ServiceTitan Elite Trades Championship Series

Three-peat for Childress in HVAC National Championship

Craig Childress went from surviving to thriving to win his third consecutive ServiceTitan HVAC National Championship Friday, but the best moment, he said, came afterward. 

After advancing to the final with his score in an HVAC diagnostic challenge he admits “is not what I do” on Thursday, Childress beat four other finalists in a challenge involving installing all the refrigerant piping and condensate piping for a Trane HVAC unit, to specifications in a tight, 90-minute timeframe at the Palm Beach County Convention Center.

Childress won $40,000. Alex Ivey, of Mississippi, won $15,000 for second, and New York’s Scott Savidge took home $10,000 for third place. 

“I felt like this was a good competition because it wasn’t overly complicated,” ServiceTitan Industry Advisor and competition head judge Chris Hunter said. “It was like, let’s get in here and do what’s really done every day, and let’s see who can shine.”

That turned out to be Childress, who won both the HVAC and plumbing titles in each of the past two years but didn’t qualify for the plumbing competition this year. 

“I’m looking forward to coming back in plumbing next year,” Childress said. “There were three new guys this year and two of them were on the podium. I want to get back and compete with some of those guys.”

At the ServiceTitan HVAC National Championship, Childress noted a different comeback, which he said he’ll use as inspiration. 

“Look what Alex Ivey did,” Childress said. “He didn’t place last year and came back and won second this year. Great for him, and that’s quite the achievement. You’re certainly seeing more and more talent come through, which is great, and the sponsors are still stepping up and giving us exposure.”

The day’s biggest moment, Childress said, wasn’t getting the check. It was when Childress and his wife, Rachel, told their kids “dad did it AGAIN!”

“I couldn’t wait to get off that stage and come over and see my wife and experience this with her, and two minutes later we’re on the phone with my kids,” Childress said. “It is the best thing in the world.”

And, once again, Childress proved best at the ServiceTitan HVAC National Championship. 

“Three in a row means everything to me,” Childress said. “It’s something I never thought was possible.”

-Mike Persinger

Braden Reeser wins HVAC National Championship apprentice title

Braden Reeser does this kind of work every day, and he showed off that knowledge, ability, and familiarity in winning the HVAC National Championship's apprentice division at the 2025 ServiceTitan Elite Trades Championship Series.

Reeser, an HVAC installer and technician for Springer Appliance in Ogallala, NE, earned $20,000 for his deft duct work during Friday's final. 

The five finalists built upon work completed on an air handler earlier in the day by the professional division finalists. Apprentices had 90 minutes to set up energy recovery ventilation (ERV) tied from return to supply for indoors and outdoors, plus install an air cleaner, a UV air purifier, and a filtration system.

"Every day, we do this," Reeser said. "I know how everything goes together. It makes it a lot easier than if somebody didn't know which way the pipe had to go. And I do measurements every day."

The units sat on horizontal platforms just more than 3 feet above the concrete floor of the Palm Beach County Convention Center, meaning the finalists faced a fitness test going up and down ladders in addition to the HVAC skill components. Danielle Combs, one of the judges and a program manager in customer and partner relations for ServiceTitan, called it a "human jungle gym."

And Reeser didn't disagree.

"It was a lot of up-and-down," Reeser said. "I did nothing really up top for cutting, so I had to go down, measure and cut. and then go back up."

Part of Reeser's winnings will relieve the debt on his motorcycle.

"I’m going to get that paid off and then probably save the rest,” he said.

Kirby Hess, of Flora, IN, finished second and pocketed $10,000. Nathaniel Magner, of Boston, VA, took third place and won $5,000. 

-Eddie Wooten

Plumbing’s New Champ: Edelbacher Takes Top Prize

Five years ago, Ian Edelbacher was an almond farmer. Today, he’s a plumbing national champion.

Edelbacher, from Madera, Calif.,. won the 2025 plumbing title at the ServiceTitan Elite Trades Championship Series (ETCS) in West Palm Beach, Florida — along with a $10,000 check and trophy — after only four years in the trade.

“It’s kind of unreal still,” said Edelbacher, who walked straight from the championship stage to the crowd to celebrate with his wife and parents.

Finishing in second place was David Shanor (Front Royal, VA), and in third place was Evan Kline (Frederick, MD).

Edelbacher spent the first seven years of his professional career as a third-generation almond farmer. But after the farm was sold in 2021, his wife Alyssa encouraged him to try a new career path and come work with her at Fresno Plumbing.

That push, Edelbacher said, led to a job he loves — and now, a new title.

“I’ve got bragging rights now,” Edelbacher said with a big smile and a laugh. “I’m telling everyone at work, ‘Don’t tell me what to do. I’m the national champion.’”

-Brendan Meyer

Diagnostic challenge winnows ServiceTitan HVAC National Championship field to five

Two-time defending champion Craig Childress, Alex Ivey, Dalton Kapke, Denny Purdy and Scott Savidge survived the addition of a diagnostic challenge to the 2025 ServiceTitan HVAC National Championship on Thursday and advanced to Friday’s final at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Fla.

The pro version of the challenge included multiple faults, to be listed from most dominant to least, said ServiceTitan Industry Advisor Chris Hunter, the competition’s lead judge.

“They had to know what they were doing to figure it out,” Hunter said. “Some of them were thrown for a loop. 

“Troubleshooting, it’s a totally different game. It let some of them shine. This is their wheelhouse.

“It was a good twist, and a good way to figure out who really understands the complete scope of HVAC work.”

Childress, the two-time defending champion in the ServiceTitan HVAC National Championship, advanced despite what he described as a struggle with the diagnostic challenge.

“I am fully supportive of adding the diagnostic to the competition, because it’s part of what HVAC technicians do every day,” Childress said. “It’s just not what I do.” 

The struggle, though, showed Childress something he can carry beyond Friday’s final. 

“It shows me I need to get back into the diagnostic stuff,” he said, “and be better next year.”

The other semifinalists in the Professional HVAC event were Joe Rittorno, Cody Hendrickx, Dale Arnold, Rocky Miller and Rusty Barnes.

The HVAC National Championship will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network on Dec. 12, the Day of the Trades.

-Mike Persinger 

Robin Mae returns to HVAC apprentice competition, advances to final

Robin Mae has found a home at the Elite Trades Championship Series.

The Portland, Ore., resident, a service technician for SEER Group's Columbia NW Heating & Air Conditioning, advanced to Friday’s five-person final at the ServiceTitan HVAC National Championship. 

Mae competed in the 2024 event in West Palm Beach, Fla. And for a second consecutive year, she is the only female competitor in the division.

“It means the first time wasn’t a fluke," she said. "I really do know what I’m doing.”

The 10 apprentices faced a 15-minute challenge Thursday to diagnose two faults—low air flow and a refrigerant overcharge—in an outdoor heat pump condenser connected to an air handler and plenum.

"They had to look at all the readings—the pressures, the temperatures, the Delta T—and figure out what was wrong with the system, what the fault was, and then also what all the solutions could be," said Chris Hunter, one of the judges and a ServiceTitan principal advisor.

Mae made quick work of the diagnosis, finishing in four minutes and 39 seconds.

“It was fun,” she said moments after competing. “I’m shaking a little bit, to be honest. I was just a little nervous going out there. I thought I would do something way cooler when I came out with the smoke (during competitor introductions), and I just kinda froze.”

Though she’ll need no introduction Friday, she’ll get a second chance regardless in the championship round. 

The five highest-scoring competitors advanced. In alphabetical order, they are:

• Rene Soto Flores

• Kirby Hess

• Robin Mae

• Nathaniel Magner

• Braden Reeser

The other semi-finalists were Alejandro Aparicio, Bill Kinney, Jackson Wallace, Jake Kiese, and Moe Hamdan.

-Eddie Wooten

Childress became the first crossover champion in ETCS history, winning both the 2023 Plumbing National Championship and the 2023 ServiceTitan HVAC National Championship — and then repeated both championships in 2024.