PITTSBURGH - A two-student team from Butler County Vocational-Technical School won second place in the Pennsylvania finals of the Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills contest, held Friday.

The competition is designed to find the most talented young auto technicians in the United States.

Dustin Adams, 18, and Matthew Peters, 18, took second place and netted $20,000 in scholarships. Their instructor at the vo-tech is Dale Umstead.

"We are so proud of Dustin and Matthew," said J.J. Miller, AAA East Coast Central Safety Adviser and event coordinator. "The competition was extremely close and they demonstrated hands-on expertise, as well as superior knowledge on the written test."

The state championship was determined by the combination of a written qualifying exam and the team's performance in a hands-on competition to repair quickly and accurately a deliberately disabled Ford vehicle.

First place winners were Chris Gruszka of Allentown and Byron Apgar of Zionsville, who will compete in the finals June 28 in Detroit.