Press Releases

Texas A&M Crowned Collegiate Bass Fishing's New National Champion

LEWISVILLE, Texas (Sept. 29, 2007) - It was a traditional collegiate national championship showdown with teams from the Big 10, Big 12, WAC, Sun Belt and SEC athletic conferences in final contention for the title. It was the sport that was somewhat non-traditional but one that is rapidly gaining in stature. This was bass fishing, and the event took place on Lake Lewisville just a short drive from downtown Dallas.

TAMU WinnersThe Texas A&M team of Justin Rackley and Trevor Knight caught four keeper fish today, bass of at least 14-inches in length, to have a final weight of 7.60 pounds to take the national title home to College Station in the second annual BoatU.S. National Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship. It was just enough to edge out Western Kentuckys team of Adam Hock and Nathan Baum, who had 6.72 pounds for the day.

To win this is awesome, said Knight. We knew by late morning that this was a tough day and we were nervous about being one fish short of a limit.

And we fished hard, Rackley added. We caught lots of short fish today, so we stayed optimistic about another keeper fish right up until weigh-in time. Were proud to take this national title back to A&M.

The pair went on to say they caught two of their fish today on a small finesse soft plastic worm, one on a white tube and one on a jig. Their biggest fish of the day, a 3-pounder, was the first keeper caught and it came around 8 a.m. The final keeper was caught about 12:30 p.m.

Rounding out the top five teams who advanced to the third and final day of the championship were: 3rd place - the University of Alabama team of Rusty Jones and Daniel Statum; 4th place - University of Wisconsin - Madisons Derek and Drew Frederixon; and 5th place - Louisiana Techs Chase Cates and Blake Snow.

The five teams had qualified for the final round by having the highest cumulative weights after the first two days of competition.

Their weights were zeroed to start the last day.

The Texas A&M team, a Big 12 conference school, takes home a $14,000 scholarship check to their fishing club. Western Kentucky was awarded $8,000, Alabama $5,000, Wisconsin -Madison received $3,000 and La. Tech took home $2,000.

The championship began on Thursday of this week with a total of 83 teams from 48 schools of all sizes and conferences from across the country participating. The numbers were more than twice that of last years inaugural event, with dozens more schools currently in the process of forming new fishing programs in order to be eligible for next years event.

Finishing in the top 10 for the tournament and also receiving scholarship cash prizes for their respective school fishing clubs are: 6th place - Wabash College, James Ket and Andrew Newkirk, $1,000; 7th place - Virginia Tech, Chase Grinell and Brett Thompson, $700; 8th place - Stephen F. Austin State, Casey Sobczak and Kyle Turner, $600; 9th place - North Carolina State, Alex Freeman and Randall Hess, $400; and 10th place - Webber International, Marty Wilson and Mike Wise, $300.

The tournament was filmed extensively throughout the week to be aired as the BoatU.S. National Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship television series on Fox College Sports beginning in early January 2008.

The NCBFC is sponsored by BoatU.S., BoatU.S. Angler, Cabelas, Ranger Boats, Yamaha, Garmin, Costa Del Mar, Stearns, Pioneer Beef Jerky, Anglers' Legacy, EGO Nets, Sebile, American Rodsmiths, Aviva Fishin Buddy, Biosonix, Bill Lewis Lures, Gene Larew Lures, Nemire Lures, Keelshield, Minn Kota, Sperry Top-Sider, Power-Pole, Outdoor Specialty Products, City of Lewisville, Sneaky Petes Marina, the Collegiate Bass Anglers Association and Fox College Sports.

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Gary Dollahon

(918) 640-9084