Zellers, Edgar crowned National Guard Junior World Champs
GAINESVILLE, Ga. – A dozen TBF Division Champions began the final day of the 2010 National Guard Junior World Championship on Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Ga., Saturday; two champions emerged victorious. Greg Zellers of Winamac, Ind., representing the 15-18 age group as well as the TBF Central Division and Shane Edgar from Glendale, Ariz., representing the 11-14 age group as well as the TBF Western Division were the two winners.
Not only can these champions boast the titles, but also the $5,000 in scholarships and thousands in sponsor merchandise they’ve received for their wins. Both anglers held tense expressions as they anxiously watched the other 10 anglers weigh their bags. Every weigh bag was black, and each angler was instructed not to share any news, so it was exciting down to the very last ounce. They gave their all; only two walked away with the championship titles, but all walked away champions.
Greg Zellers earned the right to be called a national champion, bringing solid fish to the scales both days. He caught only one fish, the biggest of the day, to secure his first-place spot that weighed 3 pounds, 7 ounces.
“I can’t even begin to explain how excited I am right now,” Zellers said. “It’s exciting, a dream come true.”
Zellers fished mostly deep water Friday and had planned to head shallow today.
“The fish on the graph were suspended in about 15 feet of water, so I just gave it a nice little pull and let it sit there for a minute. Then, I let it sink back down; I got a nice reaction out of it.”
Several anglers took the opportunity to pre-fish the water in the months leading up to the event, including Zellers.
“A while back I fished Lake Lanier for a week and found some comfortable spots.” Zellers admits. “It made me feel good about the tournament.”
Today he was paired with National Guard pro Clifford Perch, who volunteered as a boat captain.
“Cliff is just an excellent person to be around, a real cool guy.”
Zellers not only thanked his boat captain but also his family, sponsors and supporters.
“It means the world to me to have people that want to help kids; they’re making it possible for kids, not just adults, to go fish big tournaments like these,” he said, commenting on what this week meant to him. “Every kid that walks in able to fish this tournament gets a new experience in life and it helps them find their ways.”
Fishermen have many techniques on the water, for this national champion one technique is at the heart of them all: Fish hard and never give up.
The 2010 National Guard Junior World Champion in the younger division, 11-14year olds, is Shane Edgar, from Glendale, Ariz., representing the Western Division. He caught one fish weighing 2 pounds.
“It just hasn’t sunk in yet,” Edgar said.
Longtime Georgia TBF State President, Larry Lewis, was his boat captain today, and Doug Youngblood and local pro, Mike McFarland, were also high on Edgar’s list to thank. Lewis, as well as Edgar’s sponsors, was very influential to his success.
“I just want to thank Tammy Cox at Berkley; I ordered some rods late, and she made sure she got them to me. Also, I used some new reels all week.”
Edgar’s technique all tournament was a drop-shot.
“I used a drop-shot with a pink worm – kinda cool.”
He was also extremely thankful to his parents for all their support.
“I’m really excited that my parents travel and support me,” he said.
His mother then replied, “He has wanted this so bad for so long and especially since he came in third at last year’s National Guard Junior World Championship; we are just so happy for him.”
Final results
11-14 Age Division:
Name, State/Division, Fish, Weight
1 Shane Edgar, AZ/Western, 1/1, 2-0
2 Ryan Spencer, IL/Northern, 1/1, 1-11
3 Andrew Honigman, MO/Central, 1/1, 1-5
4 Regan Green, GA/Southern, 0, 0
5 Adrian Forbes, VT/Eastern, 0, 0
6 Ari Rosenzweig, NJ/Mid?Atlantic, 0, 0
15-18 Age Division:
Name, State/Division, Fish, Weight
1 Greg Zellers, IN/Northern, 1/1, 3-7
2 Zach Whitten, WV/Mid-Atlantic, 1/1, 1-9
3 Drake Young, MO/Southern, 0, 0
4 Josh Paxton, NV/Western, 0, 0
5 Shane Cantley, SC/Southern, 0, 0
6 Nicholas Deering, ME/Eastern, 0, 0