Virtual Championship 2006: Bracket 14
Opening round – Bracket 14: Hawkes vs. Yelas
Virtual Championship 2006
Opening round – Bracket 14: Hawkes vs. Yelas
Another exciting season of tour-level pro bass fishing drew to a close in record-smashing fashion on Lake Champlain, leaving only the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship on the horizon before 2006 is etched forever in the history books. FLWOutdoors.com will once again host its own “virtual championship” – a featured daily poll where readers can make their own picks and weigh in on who they think will be crowned champion during the Aug. 2-5 year-ending event on Logan Martin Lake in Birmingham, Ala.
In the days leading up to the championship, FLWOutdoors.com will ask readers to vote on who they think will advance in each of the daily bracket challenges (polls are located on the right-hand side of the FLW Outdoors and FLW Tour home pages). After each day’s votes are tabulated, the virtual championship bracket will be immediately updated to reflect the readers’ choices.
Will fishing fans correctly forecast the winner of this year’s championship? Vote each day to support your favorite qualified angler and to learn more about the 48 pros who will actually compete on Logan Martin Lake for a top prize of $500,000.
Today’s featured bracket matchup: Mike Hawkes (No. 14) vs. Jay Yelas (No. 35)
Mike Hawkes – No. 14 seed: Mike Hawkes of Sabinal, Texas, is no stranger to post-season competition, qualifying for the FLW Tour Championship in 2005 and 2003, where he finished 16th both times. Hawkes has made himself known on the FLW Tour and FLW Series this year. He is ranked 14th on the tour and 67th on the series. Fishing both trails, he has shown and ability to adapt to different environments and productive patterns that hold throughout the entirety of an event. Hawkes has accumulated nearly $300,000 in winnings in his FLW Outdoors career, fishing only 46 events since 2000. In the past six seasons he has been very consistent, finishing 17th in 2005 and 10th in 2003. Earlier this year he also earned an FLW Series victory at Lake Cumberland in Burnside, Ky. Hawkes also has five top-10 appearances, two of which are from the Stren Series the rest from the FLW Tour and FLW Series.
Jay Yelas – No. 35 seed: Jay Yelas of Tyler, Texas, hasn’t been to an FLW Tour championship since 2002, and he has only been to two of them in his FLW Outdoors career. He faired well in both events with a solid 19th-place finish in 2002 and an impressive 7th-place finish in 1997. The 2006 season has not been bad for the legendary angler and former Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year. He has dominated many different tournament trails and earned a well deserved reputation as one of the sports all-time greats.
Virtual Championship 2006 (click for complete details and poll results)
Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship 2006 (click for more information)
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