PARIS, Tenn. — With tears in their eyes and smiles on their faces, the Susquehanna Valley team of Garrett Enders and Nick Osman hoisted the championship trophy into the air. The Pennsylvania anglers outlasted 59 high school teams to take home the inaugural Bassmaster High School Championship trophy.
With a Day 3 weight of 7 pounds, 4 ounces, they sat in second place and were in prime position to take over the lead on the final day of competition. Using a weightless wacky rigged Senko, Enders and Osman caught four more keepers Saturday, and their Day 4 weight of 4 pounds, 11 ounces was just enough to hold off the hard-charging anglers from Benton, Ill., who jumped six places to finish second.
“It’s amazing, I mean honestly I’m still speechless, and it probably won’t sink in for a few weeks,” Osman said. “We worked so hard to get here, and it paid off. We are champions.”
Enders and Osman didn’t have an easy final day whatsoever as they were in the penalty box early Saturday morning. A 30-minute penalty was accessed to the team after they failed to promptly take their mandatory halftime break at 9:30 a.m. on Day 3. Seven minutes later they realized what had happened and took the 15-minute halftime break. After their 30-minute penalty, the Susqehanna Valley team launched and headed straight for the Carroll County 1,000-acre Recreational Lake dam. Once they arrived at the dam they fished up and down the rocky banks with their weightless wacky rigged Senko, which they threw on spinning tackle. For their victory, Enders and Osman received $4,000 ($2,000 per angler) in scholarship funds from B.A.S.S. They were also offered $20,000 scholarships (over four years), if they attend Bethel University.
The second place team of Dailus Richardson and Trevor McKinney of Benton High School were a force to be reckoned with this week, as the Illinois anglers were the Day 1 and 2 leaders from Kentucky Lake. McKinney and Richardson came back to the scales on Day 3 with just three fish for 5 pounds, 3 ounces, moving them into the final day in eighth place.
“I’m a flipper, and I really like to flip a lot,” McKinney said. “But we didn’t do that until 11 o’clock on Day 3, and that cost us.”
The Benton High School team flipped creature baits into flooded timber to catch their 6-pound, 5-ounce limit on the final day. The duo received $2,000 ($1,000 each) in scholarships from B.A.S.S., as well as $1,000 from Triton. For their Day 1 efforts on Kentucky Lake, the anglers received $1,000 courtesy of Mud Hole for their Heavyweight Bag of 20 pounds,14 ounces. The third place team of Blake Albertson and Evan Wheeler of B Town Bassers in Indiana received $1,500 ($750 each from B.A.S.S. and $1,000 from Yamaha. Zeke Gossett and Hayden Bartee of Pell City High School in Alabama climbed from 10th to fourth to take home $1,500 in scholarships from B.A.S.S. The fifth through 10th place teams all received $1,000 ($500 each) in B.A.S.S. scholarships.
Jack Garner received the Carhartt Big Bass for the week after he brought a 7-pound, 4-ounce Kentucky Lake largemouth to the scales. The angler from the Douglass Indians fishing team received a $1,250 scholarship courtesy of Carhartt.
STANDINGS BOATER DAY 4
Today's Activity Accumulative
Name # Fish # Live Lbs - Oz # Fish # Live Lbs - Oz
1 Garrett Enders - Nick Osman Susquehanna Valley 4 4 4-11 9 9 11-15
2 Dailus Richardson - Trevor McKinney Benton High School - IL 5 5 6- 5 8 8 11- 8
3 Blake Albertson - Evan Wheeler B town Bassers - IN 5 5 4-11 9 9 10- 3
4 Zeke Gossett - Hayden Bartee Pell City High School - AL 3 3 5- 4 8 8 10- 1
5 Tyler Dunn - Matthew Shrewsbury Beddingfield Bassers - NC 1 1 0-14 3 3 9-10
6 Rashaad Goodson - Steven Younginer South Florence High School - SC 3 3 3- 9 6 6 9- 7
7 Alex Torkleson - William Valdez Cascia Hall High School - OK 1 1 4- 2 5 5 9- 2
8 Dillon King - Kody Kelly Livingston Parish Bass Masters - LA 2 2 1-14 7 7 8- 4
9 Adrian Stafford - Matt Miller Btown Bassers - IN 0 0 0- 0 4 4 6- 8
10 Noah Pescitelli - Thomas Zaczek Mill Creek High School - GA 0 0 0- 0 1 1 5-15
11 Jordan Plank - Cully Scroggins Pacific Bass Anglers - WA 2 1 4-11
12 Connor Farrington - Cameron Sterritt Exeter High School - NH 1 1 4- 4
13 Keegan Findley - Hunter Scharphorn Grand Haven High School - MI 4 4 4- 3
14 Alex Goff - Will Sigmon Herbert Hoover - WV 3 3 3-14
15 Corey Skaggs - Tyler Bohannon Jefferson Co High Bass Club - KY 4 4 3-11
16 Brady McCoy - Jace Smith Mississippi Coulee - WI 2 2 3- 3
17 Julian Sosa Carver - Jacob Monroe Mesilla Valley Bass Anglers - NM 3 3 2-14
18 Ryan Wood - Adam Deakin Front Range Bass Club - CO 3 3 2-10
19 Alex Rigg - Wyatt Armstrong Mesilla Valley Bass Anglers - NM 3 3 2- 8
20 Grant Ehlenfeldt - Charles L'Allier New Richmond High School - WI 2 2 2- 5
21 Matt Brown - Jeremy Elliott Corbin High School - KY 1 1 2- 1
22 Christian Chavez - Ethan James Howard Clayton High School - NC 1 1 1-15
23 Jake Lee - Jacob Mashburn Clinton High School - TN 1 1 1-13
24 Bryce Soske - Kaleb Lenhert Park Hill South Elite Anglers - MO 2 2 1-12
25 Christopher Chandler - Gabe Jones South Beauregard High - LA 2 2 1- 4
26 Shawn Diffenderfer - Dylan Pawling Susquehanna Valley PA 1 1 1- 4
27 Kyle Tomlinson - Brad Cook Marion County High School - FL 1 1 1- 3
28 James Graves - Brandon Strayer Madison County Anglers - VA 1 1 1- 0
29 Noah Winslow - Doug Marino Nonnewaug HS - CT 1 1 0-15
30 Michael Nutter - Evan Charles LaPlata Bass Warriors - MD 1 1 0-12
31 Tucker Smith - Carter McNeil Abbeville High School - SC 5 5 12- 6
32 Ryan Shields - Austin Hale Hazel Green High School - AL 6 6 12- 5
33 Alex Williamson - Joe Curtis Windham Christian Acedemy Bassmasters - 6 6 12- 1
34 Trace Bludworth - Jack Garner Douglas Indians - TX 3 3 11-14
35 Warren Basinger - Dalton Baker Magnolia High School - AR 4 4 11-11
36 Josh Villa - Bailey Smith Windsor High School - CO 5 5 11- 0
37 Kyle Mach - Joseph Bruener Douglas Indians - TX 4 4 10-15
38 Chandler Cornelius - Hunter Adrian George Jenkins High School - FL 5 5 10- 1
39 Allex Conner - Jeremy Reese Central Ohio School Bass Club - OH 5 5 8-15
40 Kenny Christ - Michael Arndt New York HS Club - NY 3 3 8-12
41 Colin Casey - Vasilios Pozios Chippewa Valley High School - MI 3 3 8- 8
42 Remington Wagner - Nick Luna Kick Back High School Club - KS 3 3 8- 4
43 Micah McKinstry - Joshua Miller East Iowa High School club - IA 4 4 7-12
44 Zach Gromberg - Connor Wendt St Cloud High School - MN 4 3 7-12
45 Riley Bunge - Trent Hanks Eastern Iowa High School - IA 2 2 7-10
46 Mathew Hasenfratz - Trevor Owens Ponca City Bass - OK 3 3 7- 9
47 Dayten Schureman - Calvin Neff Rogers High School Bass Club - AR 3 3 6-15
48 Kris Jordan - Austin Owens Pacific Bass Anglers - WA 3 3 6- 2
49 Brandon Laird-Fletcher - Nathan Cummings Arizona HS Bass Nation - AZ 1 1 5- 9
50 John Burkley - Hunter Armstrong Wheeling Park High School - WV 3 3 5- 8
51 Michael Toohey - Luke Clair Fairfield Prep - CT 2 2 4- 2
52 Kyle Palmer - Kyle Ingleburger GCHS - TN 2 2 3-15
53 Tyler Eagan - Jason Thompson Lees Summit West High School - MO 2 2 3- 1
54 Adam Hutmacher - Zach Kenobbie Chamberlain - SD 1 1 2- 7
55 Sean Cook - Arthur Dick Joliet Central High School - IL 1 1 2- 5
56 Cody Symonds - Wyatt Stockman Prospect Mountain - NH 1 1 1-11
57 Jacob Cerretto - Jacob Schandler New York HS Club - NY 1 1 1- 9
58 Kamil Jaskolski - Max McQuiade MA High School - MA 0 0 0- 0
58 Trevor Mobley - Blake Hunter Alexander High School - GA 0 0 0- 0
58 Steve Reeves - Hunter French Buhler High School - KS 0 0 0- 0
BIG BASSTOTALS
Day Name City,State Lbs-OzDay # Fish # Live Lbs-Oz # Limits
1 Trace Bludworth Douglass, TX 7- 51 163 158 445- 1 18
2 Brady McCoy LaCrosse, WI 7- 22 146 143 395-14 10
3 Noah Pescitelli Buford, GA 5-153 75 74 109- 5 3
4 Alex Torkleson Sand Springs, OK 4- 24 24 24 31- 6 2