University of Nebraska Wins MLF College Fishing Tournament on Lake of the Ozarks

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. (March 20, 2023) – The University of Nebraska-Lincoln duo of Brett Lubeck and Trevor Schleich, both of Lincoln, Nebraska, won the MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing tournament on Lake of the Ozarks Friday with a five-bass limit weighing 20 pounds, 2 ounces. The victory earned the Cornhuskers’ bass club $2,000 and a qualification into the 2024 MLF College Fishing National Championship.

Schleich said the team fished the entire lake during practice and eliminated as much water as they could for the competition. They started the tournament day off right on a bluff wall by catching a 5-pound largemouth, but changed tactics to seek out dirtier water where they thought the fish were holding shallow and as a result would be more catchable. The team began slow-rolling a squarebill crankbait in three to five feet of water to deflect it off rocks and brush and began to fill their limit.

“It was a bit of a grind and hard to have confidence with it, but we stuck with it all day,” Schleich said.

The next bass boated were a 2-pounder and a 5-pounder, and the team stuck with it and finished their limit by 3 p.m. Schleich said they caught about 15 fish during the course of the day, many of them between 13½ and 14½ inches long.

The Lake of the Ozarks victory is the second for Schleich, who also won in 2022 on the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

“That Mississippi River win was kind of like a dream,” Schleich said. “The second time is a little sweeter. There was a lot of work put in for it, and it’s a blessing for sure.”

“It’s a great feeling,” Lubeck said with a laugh. “This is the first bass tournament I’ve ever fished.”

The teams that qualified to compete at the 2024 College Fishing National Championship are:

1st: University of Nebraska-Lincoln – Brett Lubeck and Trevor Schleich, both of Lincoln, Nebraska., five bass, 20-2, $2,000
2nd: Auburn University – Blake Milligan, Auburn, Ala., and Matthew Parrish, Decatur, Ala., five bass, 18-10, $1,000
3rd: Kentucky Christian University – William Copley, Louisa, Ky., and Braden Fairbanks, Grove City, Ohio, five bass, 17-11, $700
4th: University of North Alabama – Kolby Clark, Florence, Ala., and Rees Williams, Aurora, Ohio, five bass, 17-10, $600
5th: Adrian College – Aaron Jagdfeld, Rochester, Mich., and Dalton Mollenkopf, Pendleton, Ind., five bass, 17-6, $500
6th: University of Montevallo – Nicholas Dumke and Easton Fothergill, both of Grand Rapids, Minn., five bass, 16-13
7th: Arkansas Tech University – Asa Chism, Benton, Ark., and Michael McCarty, Cabot, Ark., five bass, 16-8
8th: Kentucky Christian University – Branson Campbell, Russell Springs, Ky., and Blayne Leeman, Kokomo, Ind., five bass, 16-4
9th: Louisiana State University-Shreveport – Tripp Bowman and Matthew Nesbit, both of Haughton, La., five bass, 16-1
10th: McKendree University – Colton Hill, Patoka, Ill., and Maxwell Trotter, Decatur, Ill., five bass, 15-15

The Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI event on Lake of the Ozarks was hosted by the Tri-County Lodging Association. The next event for College Fishing anglers will be the Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI on the California Delta Presented by Tackle Warehouse, April 21 in Oakley, California.

The 2023 MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI features college teams from across the country competing in nine regular-season tournaments. The top 12 percent of teams from each regular-season tournament advance to the 2024 Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI National Championship.

Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Black Rifle Coffee Company, E3, Favorite Fishing, Fox Rent a Car, General Tire, Grundens, Lawless Lures, Lew’s, Lowrance, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Wiley X and YETI.