Auto Glass Technician and Repair Competition Gold Medalists Revealed

(left to right) AGTO medalists Joe Estrada (silver), Danny Kale (gold) and Zhanchang Huo (bronze).

The gold medalists for the NordGlass Auto Glass Technician (AGTO) and GlasWeld Windshield Repair Competition have been named. The AGTO gold goes to Danny Kale of Glasspro and the WRO gold goes to Braulio Lopez of Repair and Go -Espana S.L. in Lugo-Galicia, Spain.

Kale, 33, is the location manager at Glasspro in Summerville, S.C. He has more than 15 years of experience in the industry. He has two children, Bentley and Michael. In his spare time, Kale enjoys painting, motorcycles and building onto his house.

Lopez, 39, is a technician at Repair & Go in Luga-Galicia, Spain. He has more than 15 years of experience in the industry and won the 2011 GlasWeld repair competition in Spain. He and his wife, Araceli, have two children, Laura and Alex. In his spare time he enjoys playing football, paddle and spending time with his family.

(left to right) WRO medalists Chris Smith (silver), Braulio Lopez (gold) and Greg Hamilton (bronze).

Joe Estrada, 46, is the silver medalist in the NordGlass AGTO. He is an auto glass technician and trainer at Estrada’s Car Glass in San Antonio, Texas. He has 29 years of experience. He and his wife, Tally, have three children, Leah, Seth and Evan. In his spare time, Estrada enjoys fishing and scuba diving.

Zhanchang Huo, 41, took third place. He is a technician at Beijing Zhengmei Fengye Automobile Services Co. Ltd. in Beijing, China. He has more than 24 years of experience in the industry and was a second place winner in China’s first auto glass repair skill competition. Huo and his wife, jShuhua Ji, have one child named Kunliang. He enjoys billiards in his spare time.

Chris Smith, 25,  is the WRO silver medalist. He is the store manager for Techna Glass in Salt Lake City, Utah. He has 5 years in the industry and was named the 2013 Techna Glass Repair Olympics champion, the 2012 Techna Glass Repair Olympics silver medalist and the 2012 Walt Gorman Memorial Windshield Repair Olympics silver medalist and the 2011 WRO bronze medalist. He and his wife, Kate, have one child, Cooper Bradshaw. In his spare time, he enjoys watching football, fishing, spending time with his family and just having fun.

Greg Hamilton is the bronze medalist in the WRO. He is an auto glass installer for Hamilton Auto Glass Group in Charleston, S.C. He has more than 15 years of experience in the industry and is AGRSS™ certified, Dow certified, Littlebuddy certified and placed fifth in the 2010 Walt Gorman Memorial Windshield Repair Olympics and first in the 2009 Pilkington Auto Glass Technician Olympics. Hamilton and his wife, Debra, have one child, Alani. In his spare time, he enjoys fishing, flea markets and eBay trading.