Arizona wins FLW High School National Championship
Mueller, Edgar representing Kingman Academy/Sandra Day O’Connor High School win tourney title, $5,000 in tuition prizes
Frankie Mueller and Shane Edgar won the 2014 High School Fishing National Championship on Lake Keowee March 9 with a total catch of 9 pounds, 13 ounces. The team, which won the Western Conference Championship to qualify for nationals, represented the state of Arizona.
Teams competed last fall in five conference championships with the winner of each qualifying for the national championship.
Southeastern Conference champions – Carter McNeil and Tucker Smith, representing the state of South Carolina, finished second with a catch weighing 9 pounds, 7 ounces.
In third place was Southern Conference champions – Cameron Mattison and Chad Poulsen, representing the state of Louisiana with a total catch of 3 pounds, 10 ounces.
Fourth place belonged to Central Conference champions – Kaleb Seeger and Jake Saterbak, representing the state of Minnesota with a total catch of 2 pounds, 6 ounces.
Northern Conference champions – Corey Horelick and Austin Bestwick, representing Connecticut, rounded out the top-five high national championship team finishers with a total catch of 1 pound, 11 ounces.
To see complete results, click here.
To view photos from the event, click here.
About High School Fishing
Based on the highly successful 2009 launch of FLW College Fishing, which now enjoys participation by more than 600 colleges and universities nationwide, FLW and The Bass Federation (TBF) joined forces in 2011 to launch the first national High School Fishing program. By offering a high school bass fishing state championship in every state in the continental United States plus the province of Ontario, FLW and TBF are recruiting a record number of youth to the sport. Each year FLW and TBF operate more than 50 High School Fishing tournaments under the Student Angler Federation (SAF) umbrella, including opens, conference championships and a national championship that awards a $10,000 scholarship ($5,000 per student) to the winning two-angler team. The FLW/TBF SAF initiative remains the only national High School Fishing program.
About High School Fishing State Championships
High School fishing is open to all students grades 9 through 12. Each team of two students and their “coach,” who provides and operates their boat during competition, are invited to compete in a state championship. The top-10 percent of each state championship field then advances to a conference championship, and the top 10 percent of each conference championship field advances to the High School Fishing National Championship coinciding with the TBF National Championship and a Walmart FLW Tour stop. Each member of the winning team at the 2014 High School Fishing National Championship received $5,000 to help cover tuition at the university of their choice.