Western Michigan University Wins MLF College Faceoff at Detroit River

TRENTON, Mich. (Aug. 26, 2021) – The Western Michigan University team of Mason Vernia, Kurt Antonowitsch, Jack Simpson and Drake Van Dike, won the Major League Fishing (MLF) College Faceoff tournament at the Detroit River in Trenton, Michigan, Saturday. The Broncos bass club boated 44 bass weighing 109 pounds, 8 ounces to win the fourth and final Wiley X College Faceoff Events of the 2021 season and earn the win by a 14-pound, 11-ounce margin over Adrian College.

According to post-tournament reports, the Western Michigan teams started on high percentage areas early, targeting deep rocks & grass with a drop-shot rig. Vernia and Antonowitsch threw a Strike King Baby Z-Too with a 3/8-ounce tungsten drop-shot weight, while Simpson and Van Dike opted to drop-shot a pearl-colored Berkley Powerbait MaxScent Flat Worm, also with a 3/8-ounce weight. Both teams credited their electronics as being crucial in chasing the big schools of smallmouth all day.

The five teams that competed in the Wiley X College Faceoff at the Detroit River in Trenton finished:
  1st: Western Michigan University – Mason Vernia, Kurt Antonowitsch, Jack Simpson and Drake Van Dike, 44 bass, 109-8
  2nd: Adrian College – Austin Tapley, Carter Ball, Aaron Jagdfeld and Jacob Emery, 32 bass, 94-13
  3rd: Campbellsville University – Dalton Smith, Cade Hayford, Dustin Bauer and Morgan Miracle, 26 bass, 74-8
  4th: Radford University – Jackson Norton, Brandon Miskell, Kent Clark, Adam Szalankiewicz, 13 bass, 45-4
  5th: King University – Landon Lawson, Donovan Carson, Hunter McClaskey, 11 bass, 34-12

The College Faceoffs are single-day tournaments where competitors fish in an MLF-style catch, weigh, immediate-release team format at each event. The College Faceoff tournaments occur the Saturday following a College Fishing competition, on the same body of water. The results from the College Fishing tournament the previous day determine the 20 competitors for the College Faceoff, with the top two teams (four anglers) from the top five schools in the regular season tournament qualifying to fish in the ten-boat faceoff the following day.

The College Faceoff tournament on the Detroit River was the fourth and final Faceoff events for MLF collegiate anglers in 2021. The schedule for the 2022 College Faceoff events will be announced this fall.