Texas A&M Grabs Early Lead In College Bass Championship

Matthew McArdle (left) and Josh Bensema of Texas A&M University take the Day 1 lead in the 2015 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops on Lake DuBay with 8 pounds, 1 ounce.

July 9, 2015

Texas A&M Grabs Early Lead In College Bass Championship

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STEVENS POINT, Wis. — The Aggies of Texas A&M University brought in only 8 pounds, 1 ounce of bass Thursday, but that was enough to lead the first round of the Carhartt Bassmaster College National Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops.

Texas A&M’s Josh Bensema and Matthew McArdle started fast and furious on Lake DuBay, catching their three-bass limit early and leading the way on a challenging fishery.

“This morning went very well for us,” Bensema said. “We had our fish by 7 a.m., and then we decided to lay off and save them for tomorrow.”

The Texas anglers made a crucial decision on the final practice day.

“It took us three days to figure out the pattern,” McArdle said. “We are from Texas, and we have largemouth. We tried to figure out the smallmouth over the last few days and we couldn’t, so on the third day of practice, we went searching for largemouth. And we found them.”

Unlike Bensema and McArdle, who were right at home in the shallow backwaters catching largemouth, the two teams tied for second place weighed in limits of smallmouth.

JP Kimbrough and Jared Rascoe of Louisiana State University-Shreveport and Trevor Lo and Chris Burgan of the University of Minnesota are tied at 7 pounds, 15 ounces apiece. Kimbrough and Rascoe started slow Thursday morning, but steadily put together their three-fish limit.

After failing to score in areas where they had practiced, the pair moved to another area of Lake DuBay and caught what would be the biggest bass of the day for them, according to Kimbrough. When that area “started to get crowded” the pair went to yet another new spot. They didn’t fill out their limit until 15 minutes before it was time to head back to check-in.

The falling water on Lake DuBay was a popular topic backstage, but LSU-Shreveport doesn’t think it will bother their bite much, but they wonder how it could affect the anglers targeting largemouth.

Minnesota’s Lo and Burgan caught 7-15 as well and are just 2 ounces off the pace set by Texas A&M.

“We were just hoping to catch a limit going into today. We pulled up to a spot that we didn’t fish in practice and we caught them there,” Lo said. “We only culled once today, so it was slow after the flurry.”

Appalachian State’s Hunter Hill and Ethan Howell sacked up 7 pounds, 14 ounces to finish the day in fourth. Their limit bag consisted of two largemouth and one smallmouth.

Rounding out the Top 5 is Frankie Appaluccio and Logan Shaddix of the University of Alabama with 7 1/2 pounds of smallmouth bass.

The defending National Champions, Jake Whitaker and Andrew Helms of the University of North Carolina-Charlotte are tied for sixth — just 2 ounces behind Appaluccio and Shaddix — with Cade Laufenberg and Wyatt Stout of Winona State. The weights on DuBay were very close with 12th place sitting just 2 pounds out of the Top 5, which will advance to the final day.

John Garrett and Brian Pahl from Bethel University lead the Bass Pro Shops Big Bass competition with a fish weighing 3 pounds, 11 ounces.

The three-fish limit may seem odd in an age when five is the typical tournament limit, but Wisconsin allows each competitor to have three fish per day. Since four anglers are fishing the National Championship solo, tournament officials established a three bass limits for the entire field.

All of the Day 2 action from Lake DuBay will be on Bassmaster.com throughout the day and weigh-in begins at 3 p.m. CT at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Friday’s takeoff is at the Tiki Beach Bar and Grill at 6 a.m. CT.

Today’s Activity# Fish Lbs – OzAccumulativeName # Live # Fish # Live Lbs – Oz1 Josh Bensema – Matthew McArdle Texas A&M University 3 3 8- 1 3 3 8- 12 JP Kimbrough – Jared Rascoe LSU Shreveport 3 3 7-15 3 3 7-152 Trevor Lo – Chris Burgan University of Minnesota 3 3 7-15 3 3 7-154 Hunter Hill – Ethan Howell Appalachian State University 3 3 7-14 3 3 7-145 Frankie Appaluccio – Logan Shaddix University of Alabama 3 3 7- 8 3 3 7- 86 Cade Laufenberg – Wyatt Stout Winona State University 3 3 7- 6 3 3 7- 66 Jake Whitaker – Andrew Helms UNC Charlotte 3 3 7- 6 3 3 7- 68 Tyler Rivet – Allyson Marcel Nicholls State University 3 3 6- 9 3 3 6- 99 Justin Singleton – Zac Bennett Georgia College & State University 3 3 5-13 3 3 5-1310 Zack Bodford – Matthew Hinkle NC State University 3 3 5-11 3 3 5-1110 Brock Enmeier – Colten Hutson University of Central Oklahoma 3 3 5-11 3 3 5-1112 Cody Spears – Justin Mahon Florida State University 2 2 5- 8 2 2 5- 813 Ross Burns – Richard Nesbitt Clemson University 3 3 5- 5 3 3 5- 514 Baylor Ronemus – Cole Tinsley Clemson University 3 3 5- 2 3 3 5- 215 Zachary Blalock – Mike Corbishley East Carolina University 2 2 4-12 2 2 4-1216 Hunter Gibson – Caiden Sinclair University of Alabama 3 3 4- 5 3 3 4- 517 Tyler Stewart – Nick Joiner La Monroe 2 2 4- 4 2 2 4- 418 Justin Brown – Brandon Bissell Northern Michigan University 3 3 4- 3 3 3 4- 319 Cole Atkinson – St Ambrose University 2 2 4- 3 2 2 4- 320 John Ledet – Justin Cooper Northwestern State University 3 3 4- 1 3 3 4- 121 Sheldon Rogge – Lance Maldonado Kansas State University 2 2 3-12 2 2 3-1222 John Garrett – Brian Pahl Bethel University 1 1 3-11 1 1 3-1123 Kyle Winstead – Brandon Koon UT Martin 2 2 3-10 2 2 3-1024 Kevin Lucas – Kyle Stafford U. of Central Florida 2 2 3- 8 2 2 3- 825 Evan Smith – Aaron Sarna Arkansas Tech University 2 2 3- 1 2 2 3- 126 Murphy Klumpp – Lucas Brown Auburn University 2 2 2-13 2 2 2-1326 Tyler Rocke – Justin Schick Illinois Central College 2 2 2-13 2 2 2-1328 Austin Brimeyer – Anthony Riesberg University of Dubuque 2 2 2-12 2 2 2-1229 Jacob Wall – University of Oregon 1 1 2-12 1 1 2-1230 Ross Dove – Richie Young Emmanuel College 2 2 2-11 2 2 2-1131 Cole Blythe – John Auten UNC Charlotte 1 1 2-11 1 1 2-1132 Samuel Moore – Ross Kellermeier Bemidji State University 2 2 2-10 2 2 2-1033 Patrick Walters – Josh Rennebaum University of South Carolina 1 1 2- 8 1 1 2- 834 Josh Oliver – Nathan George Gadsden State Community College 1 1 2- 6 1 1 2- 635 John Duarte – Jonathan Kelley Coastal Carolina University 2 2 2- 5 2 2 2- 536 Alex Klein – Chico State 1 1 2- 5 1 1 2- 537 Aaron Belgard – Logan Laprarie Northwestern State University 1 1 2- 3 1 1 2- 337 Taylor Bivins – Kyle Alsop Kansas State University 1 1 2- 3 1 1 2- 339 Easton Ramsey – Chris Zins University of Central Oklahoma 1 1 1-14 1 1 1-1440 Dwight Camp – Jonathan Furlong Southeastern Oklahoma University 1 1 1-11 1 1 1-1140 Laj Tripp – Kyle Sittman Eastern Washington University 1 1 1-11 1 1 1-1142 Thomas Oltorik III – James Oltorik Daytona State College 1 1 1-10 1 1 1-1043 Jay Emmert – Christian Peake U. of Tennessee 1 1 1- 9 1 1 1- 943 Evan Horne – Dawson Lenz University of North Alabama 1 1 1- 9 1 1 1- 945 Chelsey Queen – Kristopher Queen Bethel University 1 1 1- 8 1 1 1- 846 Phillip Germagliotti – Shane Campbell McKendree University 1 1 1- 7 1 1 1- 747 Benjamin Freeman – Dillon McGee Bethel University 1 1 1- 6 1 1 1- 647 Edward Rude III – Matthew Combs West Virginia University 1 1 1- 6 1 1 1- 649 Justin Bruno – Brody Anderson Grand Valley State University 1 1 1- 5 1 1 1- 5Today’s Activity# Fish Lbs – OzAccumulativeName # Live # Fish # Live Lbs – Oz49 Michael Woods – Chas Brannon Chico State 1 1 1- 5 1 1 1- 551 Jacob Reome – Matthew Garvin Clemson University 1 1 1- 4 1 1 1- 452 Grayson Barber – Hiroto Kinoshita NC State University 1 1 1- 3 1 1 1- 352 Austin Littrell – Ben Wall Auburn University 1 1 1- 3 1 1 1- 352 Taylor Minick – Michael Harbach Valdosta State University 1 1 1- 3 1 1 1- 355 Kit Benson – Wes Lashmett Western Illinois University 1 0 1- 3 1 0 1- 356 Cy Floyd – Travis Opel Eastern Washington University 1 1 1- 2 1 1 1- 256 Lance Freeman – Seth Brock Murray State University 1 1 1- 2 1 1 1- 258 Anderson Aldag – Lee Mattox University of Alabama 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 058 Matt Allen – Zach Youngblood Tennessee Tech University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 058 Tanner Austin – Ethan Clark Sacramento State 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 058 Joshua Butts – Justin Rivers Wallace State CC Hanceville 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 058 Alec Castonguay – Garret Whitley Stephen F Austin State University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 058 Tyler Craig – Blake Alford La Monroe 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 058 Brian Eaton – Slade Daniel La Monroe 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 058 Grant Ehlenfeldt – Brett Stanek University of Wisconsin-Platteville 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 058 Grant Galloway – Joe Marty Mississippi State University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 058 Justin Gaskin – James Avant LSU Shreveport 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 058 Clayton Godfrey – Garret Lindsey Stephen F Austin State University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 058 Darrell Henson Jr. – Brent Rome LSU 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 058 Shelby Hutchens – Brian Blades Stephen F Austin State University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 058 Kelly Johnson – Jeremy Gilley Appalachian State University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 058 CJ Knight – Tim Ward Auburn University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 058 Jordan Ledbetter – Trent Robinson McKendree University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 058 Jared Mataczynski – Steve Nebel University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 058 Zander Monk – Taylor Thomas UNC Charlotte 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 058 Austin Neary – Alex Frazier Western Carolina University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 058 Colby Ogden – Brandon Simoneaux Lamar University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 058 Carson Orellana – Strayer University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 058 Jonathan Peck – Devin Wallis Bryan College 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 058 Ethan Snyder – Shaw Owens Eastern Kentucky University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 058 John Zeolla – Clayton Lauchland Cal Poly 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0Name City,State Lbs-OzBIG BASSDay1 John Garrett – Brian Pahl Union City, TN 3-11Day # Live Lbs-Oz # LimitsTOTALS# Fish1 103 102 196-11 162 0 0 0

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