NATCHITOCHES, La. (March 31, 2015) – The Barbe High School team of Hunter Keller and Nick Nocilla brought a five-bass limit to the scale Sunday weighing 11 pounds, 7 ounces, to win the 2015 Louisiana State High School Fishing Championship tournament on Sibley Lake. The win earned the team the title of state champions and qualified the team to compete in a High School Fishing conference championship tournament on the Arkansas River in October.
“We are just thrilled to have won this event,” said Nocilla, a junior. “We caught most of our fish ripping square-bill crankbaits through the grass and mixed in a few on a Yamamoto Senko.”
The top five teams on Sibley Lake that advanced to the conference championship were:
1st: Barbe High School – Hunter Keller and Nick Nocilla, five bass, 11-7
2nd: Oak Hill High School – Wesley Holt and Colby Miller, five bass, 11-2
3rd: Natchitoches Central High School – Nicholas Wiggins and Lane Possoit, five bass, 11-1
4th: Natchitoches Central High School – Dylan Poche and Reagan Maxey, five bass, 10-15
5th: Benton High School – Cade Gordon and Haden Craig, three bass, 10-2
Rounding out the top 10 teams were:
6th: Natchitoches Central High School – D.J. Coker and Irven Delancy, five bass, 9-7
7th: North Desoto High School – Kyle McAllen and Dawson Cranford, five bass, 8-14
7th: Edward Douglas White Catholic High School – Brennen Cooley and Ross Martin, five bass, 8-14
9th: North Desoto High School – William McLeod and Christian Mathews, five bass, 8-11
10th: Benton High School – Eli Stinson and Garrett Allums, five bass, 8-9
The 2015 Louisiana State High School Fishing Championship was a two-person (team) event for students in grades 7-12. The top 10 percent from each TBF/FLW state championship field will advance to a High School Fishing conference championship along with the top three teams from each of the seven TBF/FLW High School Fishing Opens held this season. The top 10 percent of each conference championship field will then advance to the High School Fishing National Championship, coinciding with the TBF National Championship and an FLW Tour stop in the spring of 2016. The High School Fishing national champions will each receive a $5,000 college scholarship to the school of their choice.