Local Knowledge Helps Coastal Carolina Take The Lead In Bassmaster College National Championship

September 3, 2022

Local Knowledge Helps Coastal Carolina Take The Lead In Bassmaster College National Championship

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GEORGETOWN, S.C. — When Andrew Vereen and Connor Cartmell walked on stage on Day 2 of the Strike King Bassmaster College Series National Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops, they were met with a cheering section so loud it echoed throughout Front Street in downtown Georgetown.

Vereen and Cartmell rewarded their family, friends and supporters with a 15-pound, 1-ounce bag of largemouth that lifted the Coastal Carolina University duo to the lead with a two-day total of 29-7. Entering the day in second with 14-6, Vereen and Cartmell now hold a 1-6 advantage over Jackson Swisher and Seth Slanker from Florida Gateway College.

“It feels good to have a crowd that knows who we are and is rooting for us,” Vereen said.

Vereen grew up just up the road from Georgetown in Murrells Inlet and has fished the Winyah Bay system his entire life. But he recognized that home-field advantage only does so much when so many quality anglers are in town.

“The local advantage is there for knowing the area better than others,” Vereen said. “As far as fishing goes, you have to put your head down and fish. Any of these boys can catch them. They are all good fishermen. But we do have an advantage in the fact I know how to get around.”

That navigation advantage has played a huge role so far, as they are getting back into tight areas on low tide in the Santee River. They were faced with the same tide situation as Day 1, which makes for an interesting run in the morning.

“We pretty much had the same tide we had yesterday but today it fell out a little lower,” Vereen said. “We have a sketchy run getting to where we are going. I’m a little nervous. If we get up there we are good, but if we take a lower unit off we will be (in trouble).”

While they had their limit by 11:30 a.m. Friday, it was the total opposite on Day 2. They got their biggest bite of the day early in the morning, but that fish never made it in the boat. After that, they adjusted to the conditions and recovered from their early-morning stumble.

“First thing this morning was a struggle. We lost one that was over 6 pounds, maybe 7,” Cartmell said. “We put one in the boat that was 12 inches and we started catching more fish and went from there after 11:30. We filled out a limit around 1 p.m. It was the complete opposite of yesterday because we didn’t catch one after 11 yesterday.”

One bait did the job on the first day in one stretch of the river, but Saturday the CCU duo threw a rotation of baits that included a shaky head and a big topwater bait. Clouds and a little bit of rain moved through the area as well, which Cartmell believes helped the cause.

“Yesterday it was one stretch. Today we caught two or three fish off of it and on the way back we junk fished,” Cartmell added. “We fished what looked good and laydowns that were off the bank 40 or 50 yards. You can barely see them sticking out of the water or submerged in the water.

“We Power-Pole down or Spot-Lock down and throw over it and work that sucker as slow as we can. Let it sit and that’s when they eat it.”

Winning on his home waters would mean the world to Vereen, but he said they will need their area to reload a little bit.

“It would mean the world. All I want is that trophy,” he said. “I am nervous for tomorrow. We are kind of running out of fish. We are going to have to grind to get five of the right fish. All we can do is go fishing.”

Swisher and Slanker have used their history on the St. Johns River in Florida this week, catching 11-15 on Day 1 and 16-2 Saturday to climb into second place with a two-day total of 28-1.

“We know how to run the tide,” Swisher said. “I haven’t seen it act how it has acted the last couple days. I don’t know if it is because of the wind or what it is, but we haven’t had a slack tide. It is falling and then all of sudden it will rise. Back home, there is a solid 45 minutes of dead time.”

After a quick start to the morning, Swisher and Slanker suffered a lull before getting back on track.

“We had a 3-pounder as our first fish and then a 2 1/2 and then we went through a slow spell where we only caught some shorts,” Swisher said. “About 10 a.m., we started wearing them out and then in the last 20 minutes I caught a 4 1/2-pounder and that put us where we needed to be.”

The Florida anglers have found several areas of river that are largely untouched by the competition, areas they say most anglers wouldn’t take their boats. Having unpressured fish has been a huge part of their success this week.

Slanker said they ran the same program as they did Friday. But before the big bass today, they hadn’t had a true big bite this week. A buzzbait and a Senko have been their two key baits this week and he is hoping Sunday they will get another big bite that will lift them to victory.

Brooks Anderson and Parker Guy of Emmanuel College are in third with a two-day total 25-5, thanks mostly to their 16-6 Day 2 performance. After attempting their first-day pattern to start the morning, the duo received one key bite mid-morning that keyed them in.

“It really turned our day around,” Anderson said. “It clued us into what we needed to do. From there we put three really good fish in the boat. We had a couple more opportunities but we are hopeful for tomorrow.”

Solomon Glenn and Ryan Thomas from the University of Montevallo claimed the Big Bass of the Tournament with a 7-3 largemouth that anchored the Big Bag of the Tournament at 16-14.

The Top 12 anglers will return to Winyah Bay Sunday to compete for the National Championship title as well as a spot in the College Classic Bracket. Takeoff will begin at 6:30 a.m. ET from Carroll A. Campbell Marine Complex and weigh-in will begin around 2:30 p.m. in downtown Georgetown. Weigh-in coverage will be carried on Bassmaster.com.

The Top 3 teams will join the Bassmaster College Team of the Year to qualify for the Bracket and a chance to compete in the 2023 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic in Knoxville.

Georgetown County, S.C. is hosting the event.

2022 Strike King Bassmaster College Series National Championship at Winyah Bay presented by Bass Pro Shops 9/2-9/4Winyah Bay, Georgetown  SC.(BOATER) Standings Day 2

    Angler                                       Club/School                       Pts

1.  Andrew Vereen – Connor Cartmell              Coastal Carolina University         250Day 1: 5   14-06     Day 2: 5   15-01   Total:  10  29-072.  Jackson Swisher – Seth Slanker               Florida Gateway College             249Day 1: 5   11-15     Day 2: 5   16-02   Total:  10  28-013.  Brooks Anderson – Parker Guy                 Emmanuel College                    248Day 1: 5   08-15     Day 2: 5   16-06   Total:  10  25-054.  Hayden Gaddis – Ben Cully                    Carson-Newman University            247Day 1: 5   11-11     Day 2: 5   13-09   Total:  10  25-045.  Jake Monti – Samuel Dunson                   UNC Charlotte                       246Day 1: 5   13-00     Day 2: 5   12-03   Total:  10  25-036.  Tommy Sendek – Grayson Morris                University of Montevallo            245Day 1: 5   12-08     Day 2: 5   12-11   Total:  10  25-037.  Tyler Christy – Trey Schroeder               McKendree University                244Day 1: 5   12-14     Day 2: 5   12-00   Total:  10  24-148.  Conner Dimauro – Justin Botts                Bryan College                       243Day 1: 5   08-02     Day 2: 5   15-09   Total:  10  23-119.  Matthew Cummings – Levi Mullins              Bethel University                   242Day 1: 5   09-05     Day 2: 5   13-15   Total:  10  23-0410. James Willoughby – Jacob Pfundt              University of Montevallo            241Day 1: 5   15-15     Day 2: 5   07-01   Total:  10  23-0011. Owen Januszewski – Matt Mosby                Adrian College                      240Day 1: 5   10-01     Day 2: 5   12-03   Total:  10  22-0412. Connor Jacob – Sam Smith                     Auburn University                   239Day 1: 5   11-05     Day 2: 5   10-03   Total:  10  21-0813. Adrian Urso – Corbin Templon                 Murray State University             238Day 1: 5   10-07     Day 2: 5   10-11   Total:  10  21-0214. Solomon Glenn – Ryan Thomas                  University of Montervallo           237Day 1: 3   03-14     Day 2: 5   16-14   Total:   8  20-1215. Ryan Franks – Jason Reding                   Kent State University               236Day 1: 5   11-12     Day 2: 5   09-00   Total:  10  20-1216. Brayden Mercer – Corey Morris                East Texas Baptist University       235Day 1: 5   07-03     Day 2: 5   13-08   Total:  10  20-1117. Zack Barrera – Bryson Osteen                 Florida Gateway College             234Day 1: 5   11-14     Day 2: 5   08-13   Total:  10  20-1118. Peyton Harris – Dalton Head                  University of Montevallo            233Day 1: 5   09-13     Day 2: 5   10-12   Total:  10  20-0919. Tyler Cory – Scott Sledge                    University of Montevallo            232Day 1: 5   09-13     Day 2: 5   10-11   Total:  10  20-0820. Kaden Proffitt – Cason Ragsdale              East Texas Baptist University       231Day 1: 5   07-03     Day 2: 5   13-04   Total:  10  20-0721. Chase Sansom – Tyler Drown                   Marshall University                 230Day 1: 5   06-04     Day 2: 5   13-14   Total:  10  20-0222. Luke Morgan – Kyle Knoll                     Southern Union State Community C    229Day 1: 5   06-15     Day 2: 5   12-11   Total:  10  19-1023. Victor Alford – Logan East                   Bryan College                       228Day 1: 5   10-03     Day 2: 5   09-05   Total:  10  19-0824. Chase Hubble – Brent May                     Florida Gateway College             227Day 1: 5   09-09     Day 2: 5   09-15   Total:  10  19-0825. Conner Giles – Christian Wright              Bryan College                       226Day 1: 5   11-03     Day 2: 5   08-02   Total:  10  19-0526. Cole Lamb – Tristan Weaver                   Arkansas Tech University            225Day 1: 5   13-09     Day 2: 5   05-11   Total:  10  19-0427. Hunter Baird – Cole Breeden                  Drury University                    224Day 1: 5   09-01     Day 2: 5   10-03   Total:  10  19-0428. Drew Traffanstedt – Dakendrick Patterson     University of Montevallo            223Day 1: 5   09-14     Day 2: 5   09-02   Total:  10  19-0029. Logan Parks – Tucker Smith                   Auburn University                   222Day 1: 5   07-11     Day 2: 5   11-02   Total:  10  18-1330. Ryan Feehan – Spence Francis                 Virginia Tech University            221Day 1: 5   10-06     Day 2: 5   08-06   Total:  10  18-1231. Tyler Anderson – Britt Myers                 Lander University                   220Day 1: 5   08-14     Day 2: 5   09-11   Total:  10  18-0932. Jackson Ebbers – Hunter Suchsland            University of Nebraska-Lincoln      219Day 1: 5   08-08     Day 2: 5   10-00   Total:  10  18-0833. Avery Hammock – Garrett Smith                Erskine College                     218Day 1: 5   09-07     Day 2: 5   08-13   Total:  10  18-0434. Carson Maddux – Robert Cruvellier            Auburn University                   217Day 1: 5   12-08     Day 2: 3   05-09   Total:   8  18-0135. Michael Postlewait – Andrew Rickman          Dallas Baptist University           216Day 1: 5   09-03     Day 2: 5   08-14   Total:  10  18-0136. Matthew Davis –                              Adrian College                      215Day 1: 5   09-09     Day 2: 5   08-04   Total:  10  17-1337. Blake Richards – James Gillis                Clarkson University                 214Day 1: 5   12-10     Day 2: 4   04-15   Total:   9  17-0938. Jacob Welch – Lee Lambrecht                  Drury University                    213Day 1: 3   10-11     Day 2: 5   06-14   Total:   8  17-0939. Parker Greer – Andrew Shadle                 Baylor University                   212Day 1: 5   10-07     Day 2: 5   07-02   Total:  10  17-0940. Will Harkins – Mitchell Grimsley             Young Harris College                211Day 1: 5   09-02     Day 2: 5   08-05   Total:  10  17-0741. Lucas Smith – Dalton Mize                    Jacksonville State University       210Day 1: 5   08-03     Day 2: 5   09-02   Total:  10  17-0542. Tj Davis – Austin Callovini                  Greenville University               209Day 1: 5   07-13     Day 2: 5   09-03   Total:  10  17-0043. Brian Linder – Nathan Thompson               Minnesota State – Mankato           208Day 1: 5   09-06     Day 2: 5   07-09   Total:  10  16-1544. Luke Glasgow – James Ikerd                   Mississippi State University        207Day 1: 5   09-15     Day 2: 5   06-10   Total:  10  16-0945. Lafe Messer – Matt Messer                    Kentucky Christian University       206Day 1: 5   07-08     Day 2: 5   09-01   Total:  10  16-0946. Jack Dice –                                  Liberty University                  205Day 1: 5   08-04     Day 2: 5   08-04   Total:  10  16-0847. Hunter MCClaskey – Landon Lawson             King University                     204Day 1: 5   08-04     Day 2: 5   08-00   Total:  10  16-0448. Braden Perry – Aidan England                 Carson-Newman University            203Day 1: 5   09-02     Day 2: 5   06-15   Total:  10  16-0149. Griffin Fernandes – Hayden Scott             Adrian College                      202Day 1: 5   06-12     Day 2: 5   09-03   Total:  10  15-1550. Hunter Keller – Wesley Smith                 Catawba Valley Community College    201Day 1: 5   07-09     Day 2: 5   08-05   Total:  10  15-1451. Easton Fothergill – Nick Dumke               University of Montevallo            200Day 1: 5   05-10     Day 2: 5   10-02   Total:  10  15-1252. Jake Peck – Beau Browning                    Drury University                    199Day 1: 5   07-02     Day 2: 5   08-10   Total:  10  15-1253. Brady Rufenacht – Nick Redlin                University of Wisconsin- Plattev    198Day 1: 5   08-13     Day 2: 5   06-14   Total:  10  15-1154. Jeremy Dellinger – Adam Seagle               Erskine College                     197Day 1: 5   07-06     Day 2: 5   08-05   Total:  10  15-1155. Kyle Simmons – Brett Halstead                Kansas State University             196Day 1: 5   07-09     Day 2: 5   08-01   Total:  10  15-1056. Matthew Zdrazil – Easton Lindus              Emmanuel College                    195Day 1: 5   12-14     Day 2: 2   02-11   Total:   7  15-0957. Wyatt Pearman – Dustin Bauer                 Campbellsville University           194Day 1: 5   09-10     Day 2: 5   05-15   Total:  10  15-0958. Keaton Smith – Matthew Bradham               Campbellsville University           193Day 1: 4   06-00     Day 2: 4   09-06   Total:   8  15-0659. Robert Gee – Chad Sentell                    University of Tennessee             192Day 1: 5   08-02     Day 2: 5   07-02   Total:  10  15-0460. Chase Clarke – Peyton McCord                 Auburn University                   191Day 1: 5   07-11     Day 2: 5   07-09   Total:  10  15-0461. Eli Stevenson – Hunter Palmer                Bryan College                       190Day 1: 5   07-11     Day 2: 5   07-08   Total:  10  15-0362. Drew Gill – Jonah Potts                      Wabash Valley College               189Day 1: 5   05-10     Day 2: 5   09-08   Total:  10  15-0263. Logan Bozeman – Andrew Fryer                 Southern Union State Community C    188Day 1: 5   06-01     Day 2: 5   08-14   Total:  10  14-1564. Kyle Hopping – Jaxson Freeman                McKendree University                187Day 1: 5   05-15     Day 2: 5   08-15   Total:  10  14-1465. Russel Buffa – Jenson Kay                    Adrian College                      186Day 1: 5   11-06     Day 2: 2   03-07   Total:   7  14-1366. Tanner Barclay – Lloyd Laconsay              Auburn University                   185Day 1: 5   07-01     Day 2: 3   07-10   Total:   8  14-1167. Zach Malinowski – Kevin Langlands            Grand Valley State University       184Day 1: 5   11-09     Day 2: 2   02-15   Total:   7  14-0868. Tyler Pendergrass – Benson Dowler            University of North Alabama         183Day 1: 5   06-07     Day 2: 5   07-15   Total:  10  14-0669. Jackson Paden – Joseph Bissing               University of Tennessee             182Day 1: 5   07-14     Day 2: 4   06-06   Total:   9  14-0470. Joshua DeKoning – Dalton Mollenkopf          Adrian College                      181Day 1: 5   07-08     Day 2: 4   06-12   Total:   9  14-0471. Noah Campbell – Troy Harris                  Georgia College                     180Day 1: 5   07-07     Day 2: 5   06-13   Total:  10  14-0472. Camden Trautlein – Bryce Dallas              UW-Stout                            179Day 1: 5   06-09     Day 2: 5   07-10   Total:  10  14-0373. Cody Griffith – Drew Jennings                Auburn University                   178Day 1: 5   08-01     Day 2: 4   06-00   Total:   9  14-0174. Brody Robison – Jack Alexander               University of Montevallo            177Day 1: 5   07-15     Day 2: 5   06-01   Total:  10  14-0075. Ryan Park –                                  Murray State University             176Day 1: 5   07-13     Day 2: 5   06-03   Total:  10  14-0076. Jayce Garrison – Mason Hoke                  Sam Houston State University        175Day 1: 5   07-09     Day 2: 5   06-06   Total:  10  13-1577. Michael Fugaro – Louis Monetti               UNC Charlotte                       174Day 1: 5   06-03     Day 2: 5   07-11   Total:  10  13-1478. Hayden O’barr – Tyler Lubbat                 University of Alabama               173Day 1: 3   07-15     Day 2: 5   05-13   Total:   8  13-1279. Camden Lewis – TJ Edwards Jr                 Blue Mountain College               172Day 1: 5   07-11     Day 2: 5   06-01   Total:  10  13-1280. Cordell Beckmann – Mark Burnham              Greenville University               171Day 1: 5   06-11     Day 2: 5   07-00   Total:  10  13-1181. Colton White – Chance Schwartz               University of Montevallo            170Day 1: 5   07-14     Day 2: 5   05-12   Total:  10  13-1082. Brady Duncan – Stevie Mills                  Carson-Newman University            169Day 1: 4   07-08     Day 2: 5   06-01   Total:   9  13-0983. Jordan Pennington – Weston Hollar            University of Montevallo            168Day 1: 5   06-12     Day 2: 5   06-13   Total:  10  13-0984. Lane Lassiter – Tyler Finley                 University of North Alabama         167Day 1: 5   09-11     Day 2: 3   03-09   Total:   8  13-0485. Lane Bailey – Justin Eggers                  Catawba Valley Community College    166Day 1: 5   06-11     Day 2: 5   06-09   Total:  10  13-0486. Cy Casey – Tanner Hadden                     Emmanuel College                    165Day 1: 5   10-08     Day 2: 3   02-11   Total:   8  13-0387. Kopeland Rosser – Ryan Branch                University of Montevallo            164Day 1: 5   07-13     Day 2: 4   05-05   Total:   9  13-0288. Connor Hicks – Austin Wadzinski              University of Tennessee             163Day 1: 5   09-03     Day 2: 2   03-14   Total:   7  13-0189. Cole Hopson – Callaway Robinson              Georgia College                     162Day 1: 4   04-03     Day 2: 5   08-12   Total:   9  12-1590. Reece Martin – Mark Harris                   Dallas Baptist University           161Day 1: 5   06-12     Day 2: 5   06-03   Total:  10  12-1591. Harmon Marien – Bailey Bleser                McKendree University                160Day 1: 5   06-00     Day 2: 5   06-12   Total:  10  12-1292. Chase Milholen – Cody Gregory                Bethel University                   159Day 1: 5   10-12     Day 2: 1   01-15   Total:   6  12-1193. Bradley Martin – Jack Baron                  University of Montevallo            158Day 1: 5   05-15     Day 2: 5   06-12   Total:  10  12-1194. John Harrell – Camden Romero                 Hinds Community College             157Day 1: 5   06-14     Day 2: 5   05-12   Total:  10  12-1095. John Mark Berry – Blake Bullock              Blue Mountain College               156Day 1: 5   07-03     Day 2: 4   05-05   Total:   9  12-0896. Troy Gibson – Jake Novotny                   University of Louisville            155Day 1: 4   05-02     Day 2: 5   06-08   Total:   9  11-1097. Chase Carey – Dylan Akins                    Emmanuel College                    154Day 1: 5   05-00     Day 2: 5   06-06   Total:  10  11-0698. Matthew Benson – Nathanael Wright            Emmanuel College                    153Day 1: 5   09-15     Day 2: 1   01-01   Total:   6  11-0099. Hunter Greer – Austin Speer                  Northwestern State University       152Day 1: 5   08-15     Day 2: 1   01-01   Total:   6  10-00100. Broxson Daigle – Aaron Hawkins               Texas A&M University                151Day 1: 5   05-03     Day 2: 5   04-13   Total:  10  10-00101. Mitch Johnson – Gunner Whitaker              Kentucky Christian University       150Day 1: 5   09-09     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   5  09-09102. Colton Hill – Trey Budach                    McKendree University                149Day 1: 5   05-10     Day 2: 3   03-09   Total:   8  09-03103. Colin Wolinski – Garrett Weiss               Missouri State University           148Day 1: 5   05-07     Day 2: 4   03-12   Total:   9  09-03104. Jackson Denny – Colton Parrott               University of South Carolina        147Day 1: 5   08-15     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   5  08-15105. Sam Hanggi – Sam Hoesley                     Auburn University                   146Day 1: 2   03-05     Day 2: 4   05-05   Total:   6  08-10106. Koltyn Harbin – Baylor Howell                Bethel University                   145Day 1: 2   02-00     Day 2: 5   06-08   Total:   7  08-08107. Andrew Ready – Vince Maffei                  Webber International University     144Day 1: 5   06-10     Day 2: 1   01-12   Total:   6  08-06108. Lilly Smith – Anderson Jones                 Lander University                   143Day 1: 4   04-14     Day 2: 2   03-05   Total:   6  08-03109. Cal Culpepper – Aaron Cherry                 University of Montevallo            142Day 1: 2   02-04     Day 2: 5   05-07   Total:   7  07-11110. Kobe Thompson –                              Adrian College                      141Day 1: 2   02-12     Day 2: 3   04-15   Total:   5  07-11111. Dakota Posey – Trent Buchholz                Lamar State College Orange          140Day 1: 5   04-05     Day 2: 2   03-05   Total:   7  07-10112. Brock Bila – Dylan Chambers                  Drury University                    139Day 1: 5   07-07     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   5  07-07113. Jack Tindel – Brett Fregia                   Lamar State College Orange          138Day 1: 2   02-11     Day 2: 3   04-08   Total:   5  07-03114. Zach Mcnary – Eric Hanover                   Grand Valley State University       137Day 1: 2   02-11     Day 2: 2   04-06   Total:   4  07-01115. Sid Wallace – Braedon Metzgar                Texas A&M University                136Day 1: 2   02-08     Day 2: 2   04-07   Total:   4  06-15116. TJ McKenzie – Seth Jenkins                   Emmanuel College                    135Day 1: 2   04-03     Day 2: 1   01-09   Total:   3  05-12117. Logan Anderson – Tyler Little                North Carolina State University     134Day 1: 5   05-06     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   5  05-06118. Evan Thomas – Joey Williams                  Liberty University                  133Day 1: 4   05-01     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   4  05-01119. Kaleb Brown – Chad Mrazek                    Lander University                   132Day 1: 2   03-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   2  03-00120. Garrett Thompson – Corey Pyles               West Virginia University            131Day 1: 2   02-08     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   2  02-08———————————————————————–TotalsDay   #Limits    #Fish      Weight1       101       558       961-032        84       498       874-07———————————-185      1056      1835-10

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