One year of pre-law was more than enough for Charlie Miller.
Listening to lectures, reading books and writing papers might be fun for some college students, but not him.
He yearned for a more expansive educational environment.
“It wasn’t my passion,” he said. “I needed to shift gears.”
In the spring of 2025, he enrolled in Milwaukee Area Technical College’s Landscape Horticulture program, where he could be outside, in the grass and the dirt, learning how to design irrigation systems, install watering pipes and fix sprinklers.
“I get to see something that I created with my own hands out in the field,” Miller said. “I can take the time to study it, work with it, then see the changes happen.”
And it turns out, Miller is pretty good at irrigation design. He was one of two MATC students who placed in the top 10 in their events at the 50th annual National Collegiate Landscape Competition (NCLC).
The competition, hosted by the National Association of Landscape Professionals, was held March 18-21 at Michigan State University in East Lansing.
More than 700 landscape horticulture students from 55 schools across the country competed in two dozen hands-on events, from landscape design and plant identification to equipment operation.
Twelve MATC students training to be arborists, horticulturists, landscape designers and landscapers in the college’s Landscape Horticulture associate degree program and the Landscape Horticulture Technician technical diploma program competed.
Miller placed 10th in irrigation design, while Bacardi Arnold placed seventh in interior plant identification, and the team of Amanda Koehn, Briana Laska and Meadow Nakatsuji finished eighth in landscape plant installation.
“This annual competition is an excellent opportunity for our students to step outside their comfort zone through both professional and personal development,” said Emma Ray, an educational assistant in the landscape horticulture department.
Here are the complete MATC student results from the 2026 NCLC:
Interior plant identification: Bacardi Arnold, 7th
Landscape plant installation: Amanda Koehn, Briana Laska, Meadow Nakatsuji, 8th
Irrigation design: Charlie Miller, 10th
Mini track loader operations: Lindsay Marx, 19th
Computer-aided landscape design: Kayla Crump, 23rd
Safety first: Amanda Koehn and Rebekah Melder, 24th
Exterior landscape design: Matti Gonzalez, 25th
Arboriculture techniques: Carissa Sadler and Hana Castillo, 30th
Interior landscape design: Briana Laska, 33rd
Annual perennial identification: Amanda Koehn, 42nd
Interior plant identification: Carissa Sadler, 48th
Construction cost estimating: Charlie Miller, 52nd
Maintenance cost estimating: Rebekah Melder, 54th
Annual perennial identification: Bacardi Arnold, 59th
Woody ornamental plant identification: Hana Castillo, 69th
Woody ornamental plant identification: Elena Tawawili, 82nd
In the interior plant identification event, students had 55 minutes to identify 50 plants by scientific name and common name. Participants are scored on correct recognition and spelling. MATC’s Arnold scored 87 out of 100 points.
In the irrigation design event, students had 90 minutes to answer 105 questions about a commercial project, including appropriate irrigation equipment selection and placement, zoning, pipe layout and sizing, sprinkler head layout, and hydraulic calculations. Miller scored 72.
“I knew this event would be a daunting task, but I thought I did really well,” said Miller, who works as an irrigation technician at David J. Frank Landscape Contracting, the state’s largest landscaping firm. “I had to think through a lot of questions because how we do irrigation in the Midwest and the Great Lakes region is way different than places that don’t have winter.”
In past competitions, several MATC students have placed in the top 10. The college brought home a gold medal in 2023 when Jack Depies won the mini tractor loader operations event.
In 2024, Kasey Richter placed fifth in sales presentation; in 2022, Katie Miroslaw was third in tractor loader backhoe operations; and in 2021, Micah Stege was seventh in arboriculture techniques.
The national competition started in 1977 with five colleges: MATC, Ohio State University, Texas Tech University, Georgia Institute of Technology and Mississippi State University. MATC has participated in every competition since then and hosted the event in 1981 and 1989, Ray said. The college won the team title in 1981, one of only three community colleges ever to win the championship.
Miller competed at the 2025 NCLC, but said he felt much more prepared this year. “I was nervous. This time, I knew what I was doing,” he said.
Miller plans to graduate in the spring of 2027, then embark on a career as an irrigation professional, combining horticulture training with engineering skills. “Thanks to MATC, I’ll be ready to dive right in,” he said. “I have got a really good foundation here for future growth.”
Learn more about MATC’s Landscape Horticulture program
About MATC: As Wisconsin’s largest technical college and one of the most diverse two-year institutions in the Midwest, Milwaukee Area Technical College is a key driver of southeastern Wisconsin’s economy and has provided innovative education in the region since 1912. More than 35,000 students per year attend the college’s four campuses and community-based sites or learn online. MATC offers affordable and accessible education and training opportunities that empower and transform lives in the community. The college offers more than 180 academic programs — many that prepare students for jobs immediately upon completion and others that provide transfer options leading to bachelor’s degrees with more than 45 four-year colleges and universities. Overwhelmingly, MATC graduates build careers and businesses in southeastern Wisconsin. The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.