Regional Champs!
Do you remember these guys?
Those two young anglers are Adam Diehl and Drew Bailey, winners of the State High School Bass Fishing Championship sponsored by The Bass Federation (TBF), http://outdoornebraska.ne.gov/blogs/2011/09/nebraska-high-school-state-fishing-championship-results/ . By winning the state championship, Adam and Drew qualified to fish the regional tournament which was held on October 15 on Lake Somerville in Texas. Down there Adam and Drew competed with the state high school champs from Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas. And they kicked their butts!!!!! Adam and Drew won the regional tournament with a weight of 11 pounds 3 ounces and beat the second place team, the Kansas team, by over 4.5 pounds! Our Nebraska boys were the only team to weigh a limit of fish, and, as a matter of fact, the high school tournament was held in conjunction with a college tournament on the same body of water, same day, and compared to the college teams Adam and Drew would have finished 3rd in the college standings on that day! Way to represent!!!!
You can read the official press release here, http://www.highschoolfishing.org/regionals/bailey-and-diehl-take-high-school-texas-regional-on-brush-hogs/#more-1052 . I must add, as a North Platte boy myself, that Adam and Drew are NOT from “Lincoln High School”, but from Lincoln County. I believe Adam lives in Brady and Drew in North Platte.
I have some other pictures to share. . . .
Hoisting the trophies!
Waiting in the weigh-in line.
Posing with the entire field.
On the water, ready to fish.
Weigh-in festivities for the high school and college anglers were held just outside Kyle Field during the Texas A&M and Baylor football game.
Coverage of the regional tournament is scheduled to be shown on the Versus Channel on November 27, http://www.flwoutdoors.com/tournament/fulltvschedule.cfm .
Since Adam and Drew are now regional champs, they have qualified to fish the national high school championship which I believe will be held next spring at a body of water to be determined. As I understand it, they will be competing with 4 other teams at that tournament; I would say those are good odds, and I am betting our Nebraska boys will have an excellent chance of winning!
High School Fishing Clubs
There are not a lot of high school fishing clubs in Nebraska right now. This is another way to recruit, develop and retain new anglers and we would like to see this program take off in Nebraska and around the country! If anyone if interested in getting involved or in starting their own high school fishing club, be sure to check this out, http://www.highschoolfishing.org/about-saf/ . If high school bass anglers from Nebraska can dominate the region now, just imagine what we could do with even more students participating!
Fund-Raising
I know Adam and Drew raised some funds for their trip down to the regional tournament, and I also know they are doing more fund-raising for the national championship. In fact, they are selling sun-glasses through TBF. Take a look at the sun-glasses, http://store.bassfederation.com/productcart/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=39 . Those are good POLARIZED Solar Bat sunglasses; if you fish you need a good pair of polarized sunglasses, and if you have a pair already, you need a spare! I believe there is a special fund-raising price on those sun-glasses. I found contact information for Adam Diehl in the Gothenburg Times newspaper, http://www.gothenburgtimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3313:fisherman-reels-in-recognition&catid=8:featured-articles . Contact him and make a donation or buy some sunglasses!
Thank You
You can see in some of the photos that Kent Priel from North Platte went down to help the boys (maybe that is Kent’s boat they fished out of?), and I know that Tony Munter who works at our North Platte State Fish Hatchery also went down. Those guys and others have been helping with the high school fishing club in Lincoln County. I know Adam and Drew won the tournament, but I am pretty sure the support they had from family and friends helped. In fact, I believe Kent’s experience and coaching was especially helpful in winning the tournament, http://www.gothenburgtimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3388:no-exaggeration-necessary-here&catid=3:brady-happenings&Itemid=4 . Thank you Kent, Tony, and others, you all did us proud and our Big Red buttons are popping off our chests!
