The Travelers Rest High School duo of Oakley Connor and Gantt Connor brought a massive five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 25 pounds, 6 ounces, to win the 2016 TBF/FLW High School Fishing South Carolina State Championship on Santee Cooper. The win earned the team trophies, the title of state champions and advanced the team to the High School Fishing Southeastern Conference championship on Lake Cumberland in Somerset, Kentucky, on September 16-17.
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Forty-seven teams competed in the tournament, which launched from launched from the John C. Land, III Landing in Summerton.
The top four teams on Santee Cooper that advanced to the Southeastern Conference championship were:
1st: Travelers Rest High School, Travelers Rest, S.C. – Oakley Connor and Gantt Connor, five bass, 25-6
2nd: Stratford High School, Goose Creek, S.C. – Nate Burkett and Brandon Jones, five bass, 16-5
3rd: Travelers Rest High School, Travelers Rest, S.C. – Jacob Forrester and Wilson Rickenbaker, five bass, 15-13
4th: South Florence High School, Florence, S.C. – Cole Drummond and Piercen Lynch, five bass, 15-5
Rounding out the top 10 teams were:
5th: South Carolina Student Angler Federation – Bynum Kelley, Sumter, S.C. and John Parker, Aiken, S.C., five bass, 12-12
6th: North Augusta High School, North Augusta, S.C. – Sean Hall and Kyler McKie, five bass, 12-9
7th: South Florence High School, Florence, S.C. – Tommy Floyd and James Gibbons, three bass, 11-6
8th: Chesnee High School, Chesnee, S.C. – Zack Roberts and Chase Botts, two bass, 9-2
9th: Westside High School, Anderson, S.C. – Bradley Day and Trey Wurst, four bass, 8-2
10th: Berkeley High School, Moncks Corner, S.C. – Tommy Monnet and Andrew White, four bass, 7-6
The 2016 South Carolina State High School Fishing Championship was a two-person (team) event for students in grades 7-12. The top 10 percent from each TBF/FLW state championship field will advance to a High School Fishing conference championship along with the top three teams from each of the seven TBF/FLW High School Fishing Opens held this season. The top 10 percent of each conference championship field will then advance to the High School Fishing National Championship, coinciding with the TBF National Championship and an FLW Tour stop in the spring of 2017. The High School Fishing national champions will each receive a $5,000 college scholarship to the school of their choice.
In addition to the High School Fishing National Championship, all High School Fishing anglers nationwide automatically qualify for the world’s largest high school bass tournament, the 2016 High School Fishing World Finals. At the 2015 World Finals more than $20,000 in scholarships and prizes were awarded.
About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2016 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 235 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros.
About The Bass Federation
The Bass Federation Inc., (TBF) is a member of the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame. TBF is owned by those we serve and dedicated to the sport of fishing. The Federation is the largest and oldest, organized grassroots fishing, youth and conservation organization there is. TBF, our affiliated state federations and their member clubs conduct more than 20,000 events each year and have provided a foundation for the entire bass fishing industry for more than 45 years. TBF founded the Student Angler Federation and the National High School Fishing program in 2007 to promote clean family fun and education through fishing.
By: Mark Gintert, TBF Youth Director
