DULUTH, Ga. — Ryan Figueroa of Top Gun Mechanical, located in Imperial Valley, California, dominated the competition and took home the top prize in the 2024 hilmor Fastest Hands in HVAC/R competition during the AHR Expo in Chicago last month.

The contest, sponsored by hilmor Tools, drew more than 300 entrants, a 44% increase from the 2023 contest and the most in its nine-year history. Different technical skills were demonstrated in each competitive round, and the the final task was a mini-split installation, a first for the competition.

Figueroa took the top prize of $1,000 in hilmor tools.

“This was the first time I entered this competition and I’m glad I did. It was exciting to compete using hilmor tools and even better to win,” Figueroa said in a press release. “Looking forward to using even more hilmor tools on the job since they’re such high-quality tools."

The final round had contestants install a full mini-split, including bending copper tubing, connecting line sets, and utilizing a hilmor vacuum pump.

“This year we wanted to create tasks that more closely mirrored the job site. Installing an entire mini-split on a trade show floor turned out to be challenging under time constraints, but very exciting to watch,” said Andrea Halpin, director of product marketing for DiversiTech, hilmor’s parent company. “Because our customers are passionate about hilmor tools, we always try to incorporate as many of our highly engineered tools within the competition.”