The Warren County Pioneer Angler team of Hunter Bouldin and Samuel Vandergriff competed in the Costa High School Bassmaster National Championship on July 22-25 on Kentucky Lake in Paris, Tenn.
Teams competed for $75,000 in scholarships and prizes. Schools participating in the BASS National High School program are eligible to qualify two-angler teams for the championships. A total of 134 teams, from across 37 states in the U.S. and Canada competed for the high school title.
The boat’s captain, Jason Bouldin, whose role was mentoring the anglers, accompanied Hunter Bouldin and Vandergriff in the boat. Each team was required to take a 15-minute break after four hours of fishing. One-minute timeouts were optional. The breaks also allowed the boat captains and anglers to share strategies and stay hydrated and energized throughout the day.
The high school field was reduced to the top-10 teams after the second day of competition. Teams which were ranked 11th - 50th place finished on the third day at Carroll County 1k Acre Recreational Lake. The best two teams then joined the top 10 for the final day of competition on Kentucky Lake.
On July 22, the Pioneer anglers weighed in with five fish that totaled 15-10 at Paris Landing for 11th place. On July 23, the team advanced to 10th place with four fish that totaled 12-6. It was good enough for the Pioneers to qualify in the top-10 on the second day. It allowed the pair of anglers to rest and prepare on Friday for the final day of the tournament Saturday.
Weighing in their final five-fish limit with 16-10 on the final day at Bethel University jumped the Pioneer duo up to fifth place with a total weight of 44-10. The team received a $1,250 scholarship and several other prizes for their efforts.
“Just qualifying for the national championship is an achievement,” said Hank Weldon, manager of the BASS high school and college programs. “Getting this far requires a lot of skill and dedication to advance through to the local tournaments and beyond.”
The championship will be aired on ESPNU (channel 20 on BLTV) on Aug. 18 at 6 a.m. and again on Aug. 19 at 3 a.m. For more details and photo checkout bassmaster.com>tournament>HS.