LA CROSSE, Wis. — Big smallmouth bass boosted Western Illinois University to the top of the Bassmaster College Series leaderboard Thursday, the first round of the three-day Midwestern Regional tournament on the Mississippi River. The consensus among anglers prior to the start of fishing Thursday morning was that smallmouth bass would be a larger factor in the competition than largemouth. Kit Benson and Wes Lashmett of Western Illinois proved the theory at weigh-in after they brought in in two smallmouth weighing just under 4 pounds. The largest, a 3-pound, 13-ounce bass, claimed Carhartt Big Bass honors for Day 1.
Those fish anchored a five-bass limit weighing 14-15, which put the teammates just 2 ounces ahead of Justin Brown and Brandon Bissell of Northern Michigan University, and 8 ounces in front of Cade Laufenberg and Wyatt Stout of Winona State University, who had 14-7.
“We caught those two big ones on back-to-back casts,” Lashmett said.
“My hands were shaking and my legs were shaking,” Benson added. “I was so pumped.”
Lashmett and Benson didn’t want to elaborate on what they were doing to catch their fish today, but like most anglers, the Western Illinois team welcomes the storm that is forecast for Friday. Rain pelted the Mississippi River fishery throughout practice sessions, when most teams were catching bass. Anglers didn’t fare as well when competition began under much more comfortable weather conditions. Most of the teams in the Top 10 scrambled to catch their weight in the clear-sky conditions. Those near the top of the leaderboard viewed their weigh-in bags as attempts at survival and hope rainstorms will energize bass on Friday.
The full field of 82 boats will return to the Mississippi for Day 2 of competition tomorrow with the field being cut to the Top 20 for the third and final day. The Top 13 at the end of the event will move on to the Bassmaster College Series National Championship. Troy Switajewski and Daniel Carlson of St. Cloud State of Minnesota sit on the bubble after Day 1 with 12-2.
Day 2 begins at Veterans Freedom Park in La Crosse, Wisc., with takeoff slated for 5:30 a.m. CT. Anglers will return to Veterans Freedom Park for weigh-in at 2:00 PM CT.
Midwestern Regional
5/28/2015 - 5/30/2015
Mississippi River - Veterans Freedom Park - La Crosse, WI
STANDINGS BOATER DAY 1
Today's Activity
# Fish Lbs - Oz
Accumulative
Name # Live # Fish # Live Lbs - Oz
1 Kit Benson - Wes Lashmett Western Illinois University 5 4 14-15 5 4 14-15
2 Justin Brown - Brandon Bissell Northern Michigan University 5 5 14-13 5 5 14-13
3 Cade Laufenberg - Wyatt Stout Winona State University 5 5 14- 7 5 5 14- 7
4 Trevor Lo - Chris Burgan University of Minnesota 5 5 13- 9 5 5 13- 9
5 Qiurun Chen - Luke Stoner University of Illinois 5 5 13- 6 5 5 13- 6
6 Grant Ehlenfeldt - Brett Stanek University of Wisconsin-Platteville 5 5 13- 3 5 5 13- 3
7 Pat Bowers - Sig Finley University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse 5 5 13- 1 5 5 13- 1
8 Sheldon Rogge - Lance Maldonado Kansas State University 5 5 12-15 5 5 12-15
9 Ty Woodward - Max Hellmann University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point 5 5 12-13 5 5 12-13
10 Austin Brimeyer - Anthony Riesberg University of Dubuque 5 5 12-10 5 5 12-10
11 Taylor Bivins - Kyle Alsop Kansas State University 5 5 12- 5 5 5 12- 5
11 Bryce Wegman - Carlos Thomas Illinois State University 5 5 12- 5 5 5 12- 5
13 Troy Switajewski - Daniel Carlson St. Cloud State 5 5 12- 2 5 5 12- 2
14 Craig Wise - Jackson Grabeel Western Illinois University 5 5 12- 1 5 5 12- 1
15 Kody Mattson - Tayler Stolpa Winona State University 5 5 11-14 5 5 11-14
16 Nick Carter - University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point 5 5 11-12 5 5 11-12
17 Evan Chambers - Travis Ketterhagen University of Wisconsin-Platteville 5 4 11-11 5 4 11-11
18 Andrew Nordbye - Adam Almohtadi Northwest Missouri State University 5 5 11-10 5 5 11-10
19 Jared Mataczynski - Steve Nebel University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 5 5 11- 9 5 5 11- 9
20 Andrew Mohlenbrock - Hunter McKinley Murray State University 5 5 11- 6 5 5 11- 6
21 Tyler Rocke - Justin Schick Illinois Central College 5 5 11- 5 5 5 11- 5
22 Jake Kurtzweg - Brandon Hiltner Bemidji State University 5 5 11- 3 5 5 11- 3
23 Mitch VanErt - Steven Sellnow University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 5 5 11- 2 5 5 11- 2
24 Nick Marsh - Jake Bayer Adrian College 5 5 11- 1 5 5 11- 1
25 Adam Knowles - Konner Kearney University of Wisconsin 5 5 10- 9 5 5 10- 9
26 Michael Harlin - Ben Verhoef University of Missouri 5 5 10- 7 5 5 10- 7
26 Nathan Hettinga - Dustin Genrich University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse 5 5 10- 7 5 5 10- 7
28 Danny Sprague - Cody Harris Michigan State University 5 5 10- 6 5 5 10- 6
29 Justin Bruno - Brody Anderson Grand Valley State University 5 5 10- 5 5 5 10- 5
29 Nick Dion - Jake Crawford Lake Superior State University 5 5 10- 5 5 5 10- 5
29 Tyler Nekolny - Adam Fuchs Kansas State University 5 5 10- 5 5 5 10- 5
32 Cole Atkinson - St Ambrose University 5 5 10- 4 5 5 10- 4
32 Bryce Smith - Spencer Oemig University of Wisconsin 5 5 10- 4 5 5 10- 4
34 Alex Meister - Andrew Wolfe University of Wisconsin 4 4 10- 4 4 4 10- 4
35 Cody Hahner - Mark Hugus University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point 5 5 10- 3 5 5 10- 3
35 Kason Morley - Ryan Pinkalla University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point 5 5 10- 3 5 5 10- 3
37 Phillip Germagliotti - Shane Campbell McKendree University 5 5 10- 2 5 5 10- 2
37 Jarrett Martin - Jeff Morton Adrian College 5 5 10- 2 5 5 10- 2
37 Nate Sleight - Logan Archibald Lake Superior State University 5 5 10- 2 5 5 10- 2
40 Garrett Cates - Brett Herder Kansas State University 5 5 10- 0 5 5 10- 0
41 Andrew Guilliams - Adam Staples Missouri State University 5 4 9-15 5 4 9-15
41 Chris Oja - Dan Konkle Ferris State University 5 4 9-15 5 4 9-15
43 Ben Kroeger - Brad Schaefer University of Nebraska - Omaha 5 5 9-14 5 5 9-14
43 Justin Lundborg - Cody Hallanger University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point 5 5 9-14 5 5 9-14
45 Dan Martin - Evan Hakman Eastern Illinois University 5 5 9-13 5 5 9-13
46 John Murphy - Austin Niggli McKendree University 5 5 9-12 5 5 9-12
47 Jordan Ledbetter - Curtis Lilly McKendree University 5 5 9-11 5 5 9-11
48 Eamonn Ryan - Nick Kushnerik University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point 5 5 9- 9 5 5 9- 9
49 Tyler Robinson - Hayden Roelofs Bemidji State University 4 4 9- 9 4 4 9- 9
50 Josh Pagel - Tanner Blaschka University of Wisconsin 5 5 9- 7 5 5 9- 7
51 Samuel Moore - Ross Kellermeier Bemidji State University 5 4 9- 5 5 4 9- 5
52 Erik Quanrud - Tou Long Lor St. Cloud State 5 5 8-15 5 5 8-15
53 Thor Swanson - Mitch Swanson Bemidji State University 5 5 8-14 5 5 8-14
54 Tyler Ellis - Matt Fielder Missouri State University 5 5 8-13 5 5 8-13
55 Andrew Mlotek - Daniel Blasy University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 4 4 8-13 4 4 8-13
56 Ryan Kirkpatrick - Logan Thomas Murray State University 5 5 8- 3 5 5 8- 3
57 Kyle McCarty - Kyle Knutson University of Wisconsin-Platteville 4 4 7-14 4 4 7-14
57 Charlie Sterrett - Bret Vogt University of Illinois 4 4 7-14 4 4 7-14
59 Brian Lafferty - Sam Wheeler Western Illinois University 4 4 7-13 4 4 7-13
60 Brett Daggett - Jordan Saladis University of Wisconsin-Platteville 4 4 7- 6 4 4 7- 6
61 Reece Ellerbusch - Trent Robinson McKendree University 4 4 7- 4 4 4 7- 4
62 Austin Williams - Garrett Haglin Bemidji State University 4 4 6-15 4 4 6-15
63 Sam Sobieck - Connor Graham University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point 4 4 6-14 4 4 6-14
64 Matt Feiten - Trevor Epping University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point 4 4 6- 8 4 4 6- 8
65 Marshall Sandretto - Kevin Gross Milwaukee School of Engineering 3 3 6- 8 3 3 6- 8
66 Brandon Feldman - Brian Goebel University of Dubuque 4 4 6- 6 4 4 6- 6
67 Brock Wilke - Taylor Schmitt McKendree University 3 3 6- 4 3 3 6- 4
68 Caleb Taylor - Zach Nelson Adrian College 3 3 5-10 3 3 5-10
69 Carl Hanson - Michael Jansen University of Wisconsin-Stout 3 1 5- 7 3 1 5- 7
70 Luke Wagner - James McMullen Marquette University 3 3 5- 5 3 3 5- 5
71 Michaela Anderson - Alex Smith University of St Thomas 3 0 5- 4 3 0 5- 4
72 Nick Uebelhor - University of Evansville 3 3 5- 0 3 3 5- 0
73 Austin Chapman - Brad Wyss McKendree University 2 2 4- 3 2 2 4- 3
74 Daniel Fuhrig - Colby Brauer University of Missouri 2 2 3-12 2 2 3-12
75 Max Mercer - Keaton Williams University of Iowa 2 2 3- 9 2 2 3- 9
75 Grant Stittleburg - Remington Stittleburg University of Wisconsin-Platteville 2 2 3-9 2 2 3-9
77 Joel Finch - Andrew Ketchum Ferris State University 1 1 2-15 1 1 2-15
78 Brian McClanahan - Derrik Starrett McKendree University 1 1 1-11 1 1 1-11
79 Aaron Gohla - Darren Fruit University of Wisconsin-Platteville 2 2 1- 7 2 2 1- 7
80 Derrick Meisenheimer - Brett Fickle University of Central Missouri 1 1 1- 5 1 1 1- 5
81 Jordan Meddaugh - Matt Anchor University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
81 Grant Srajer - Travis Blinn Kansas State University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
Name City,State Lbs-Oz
BIG BASS
Day
1 Justin Brown - Brandon BisseBlel ar Lake, MI 3-13
1 Kit Benson - Wes Lashmett Naperville, IL 3-13
Day # Live Lbs-Oz # Limits
TOTALS
# Fish
1 347 337 740- 7 53