The Bethel Fishing Team of Levi Mullins and Matthew Cummings finished third place in the Bassmasters College Series in Leesburg, Florida this weekend and qualified for the Bassmasters College National Championship later this summer.
Also qualifying for the Bassmasters Nationals was the Bethel team of Cody Gregory and Chase Milholen. “We are very proud of Matt, Levi, and all their teammates for the great job while fishing the Harris Chain,” said Coach Garry Mason. “No one really thought that Bethel would be very strong going into this new season, but our guys proved that they have what it takes to compete with the very best.” said Mason.
A total 250 teams competed at the Leesburg tournament.
Coach Mason of Springville said the Bethel fishing team of Mullins and Cummings brought 26 pounds 13 ounces of Largemouth Bass to the scales on Day One of the Bassmasters College Series. That effort gave the Wildcats a huge boost going into the final day of the tournament.
The Bass Cats went into Day Two in second place just behind Emanuel College. Two hundred fifty teams competed on the Harris Chain of Lakes in central Florida for trophies and qualification for a berth into the Bassmasters College National Championship to be held later this upcoming summer.
Levi and Matt finished Day Two with another impressive limit of five bass weighing over twenty pounds. That paced them to a third-place finish in the tourney. The Bethel team fielded eleven boats/ twenty-two Anglers for the competition. The third-place win for Matt and Levi qualifies the pair for the national championship.
A big shoutout to Bethel student angler Joseph Woods for catching the biggest largemouth bass of the tour. Joseph brought in a bass weighing over ten pounds, fourteen ounces for the honor of big fish for the tournament.
Joseph’s big fish was special for another reason as it was a tagged trophy bass worth $100 to the lucky angler. Woods stated that this was a huge honor to catch a tagged fish from his home state of Florida. “This is my very first tagged trophy that I have caught during a competition and to bring a ten pound plus largemouth to the scales in a tournament is truly phenomenal,” Woods said.
The Bethel Bass fishing team will now travel to Lake Chickamauga at the end of February for the second competition on their schedule.