Marion County Bassmasters Wins First MLF High School Fishing Open of 2022 on Harris Chain of Lakes
Category: article
Jan 10th, 2022 by Keith Worrall
Modified Jan 10th, 2022 at 5:02 PM
LEESBURG, Fla. (Jan. 10, 2022) – The Marion County Bassmasters High School team of Claude Loftin of St. Augustine, Florida, and Tyson Verkaik of Eustis, Florida, brought five bass to the scale Saturday weighing 19 pounds, 14 ounces, to win the season-opening MLF High School Fishing Presented by Favorite Fishing Open at the Harris Chain of Lakes.
A field of 28 teams competed in the no-entry fee tournament, which launched from the Venetian Gardens in Leesburg. In MLF and The Bass Federation (TBF) High School Fishing competition, the top 10% of teams competing advance to the High School Fishing National Championship.
The top two teams that advanced to the 2022 High School Fishing National Championship are:
1st: Marion County Bass Masters – Claude Loftin, St. Augustine, Fla., and Tyson Verkaik, Eustis, Fla., five bass, 19-14
2nd: Central Florida Youth Anglers – Logan Cardwell, Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla., and Kaden Snavely, Grand Island, Fla., five bass, 18-6
Rounding out the top 10 teams were:
3rd: Hidden Lake Big Bass – Dalton Defilice, Howe, Ind., and Elijah Meyers, Fort Wayne, Ind., five bass, 17-1
4th: Gainesville High School, Gainesville, Fla. – Julian Mendoza and Reginald Moore, five bass, 16-13
5th: Bass Tactix HS Fishing – Chance Shelby, Denim Springs, La., and Levi Thibodaux, Thibodaux, La., five bass, 16-9
6th: TSA Teen Sport Fishing Association – Patrick Bartolotta, Lake Mary, Fla., and Brady Biles, Sanford, Fla., five bass, 13-8
7th: Fishing Buddies – Isaac Dorland, Dunnellon, Fla., and Jason Haynes, Fruitland Park, Fla., five bass, 13-6
8th: Salt Homeschool Group – Drew Bradstreet and Kamden Bradstreet, both of Lutz, Fla., five bass, 13-3
9th: Rhea County High School, Evensville, Tenn. – Andon Goins and Blake Wheat, five bass, 12-14
10th: West Morgan High School, Trinity, Ala. – Ty Carruth and Lake Johnson, five bass, 12-12
Complete results from the event can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The MLF High School Fishing Presented by Favorite Fishing Open at the Harris Chain of Lakes was hosted by Lake County, Florida. The next event for High School Fishing anglers will be the MLF High School Fishing Presented by Favorite Fishing Open on Toledo Bend, Jan. 22, in Many, Louisiana.
MLF High School Fishing presented by Favorite Fishing tournaments are free, two-person (team) events for students in grades 7-12 and are open to any MLF and TBF Student Angler Federation-affiliated high school club. The top 10% of teams at each Open event, along with the TBF High School Fishing state championships, will advance to the 2022 High School Fishing National Championship. The 2022 MLF High School Fishing National Championship will be held on Pickwick and Wilson Lakes in Florence, Alabama, June 22-25, and is hosted by the Florence-Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau.
The High School Fishing National Champions will each receive a $5,000 college scholarship to the school of their choice and advance to the 2022 MLF Toyota Series Championship to compete as co-anglers.
For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular High School Fishing updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, the Discovery Channel, the Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, the World Fishing Network, and on-demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with offices in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 13 countries. In 2019, MLF expanded its portfolio of catch, weigh, and immediately release events to include the sport’s strongest five-biggest-fish format tournament circuits. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams, and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement, and fish care.
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