08/18/2026
🎤 Check out the Youth Division contestants for the Battle of the Bluegrass 2026!
These young auctioneers are ready to take the stage and show us what they can do! We’re excited to cheer them on and watch the next generation of auctioneering talent compete.
Jakup Bender is a second generation auctioneer with a deep passion for the auction industry and a strong commitment to carrying on his family’s legacy. A 16 year old junior at Grace Christian Academy in Burleson, Texas, Jakup is following in his family’s footsteps with the goal of becoming a professional auctioneer and one day leading the family business.
Outside the auction ring, Jakup is a two-time National High School Rodeo Finals qualifier and the 2026 Oklahoma High School Rodeo Boys Cutting Champion. He also serves as Secretary of his school’s FFA Chapter, demonstrating his commitment to leadership, agriculture, and his community.
Jakup also works part time at the family auction yard, gaining firsthand experience in the day-to-day business and learning the value of hard work, relationships, and serving the people who make the auction community so special. Alongside his work, school, rodeo, and FFA commitments, he is pursuing his private pilot license, another reflection of his determination to challenge himself, learn new skills, and continue growing.
For Jakup, the auction business is more than a career. It is a family tradition and a way of serving the community that he wholeheartedly believes in. He looks forward to the day when he and his sister can take the reins of the family’s auction businesses together, continuing what his parents have worked so hard to build and carrying that vision into the next generation.
With a strong work ethic, competitive spirit, and genuine love for the auction industry, Jakup is proud to represent the next generation of auctioneers and looks forward to where that journey will take him.
More information in the comments below.