The Muhlenberg County team of Billy Hardison and Nathan Fleener brought a two-day cumulative total of 10 bass weighing 33 pounds, 11 ounces to the scale this weekend, beating out 54 other teams to win the 2015 Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) Fishing Championship on Kentucky Lake. The win earned the team medals, a trophy to display in their school and the title of KHSAA state champions.
The top 10 high school teams on Kentucky Lake were:
1st: Muhlenberg County – Billy Hardison and Nathan Flener, 10 bass, 33-11
2nd: Muhlenberg County – Taylor Harris and Drew Mendoza, seven bass, 29-13
3rd: Elizabethtown High School – Nick Ratliff and Gavin Wood, nine bass, 23-6
4th: Dixie Heights High School – Sean King and Nick Tekulve, seven bass, 22-7
5th: Johnson Central High School – Truman Salyer and Cody Harless, nine bass, 21-6
6th: Perry County Central High School – Matthew Roberts and Richard Cornett, eight bass, 19-6
7th: Calloway County High School – Cody Jackson and Trevor Salyers, four bass, 19-2
8th: Thomas Nelson High School – Jared Goss and Braden Maupin, seven bass, 17-6
9th: Wayne County High School – Bradley Dunagan and Tray Hardwick, eight bass, 17-0
10th: Trigg County High School – Douglas Colson and Jordan Despain, four bass, 15-12
The Kentucky National Guard Best & Brightest Award was awarded to Tesa Hacker of Boyle County High School.
Chase Soler of Allen Central High School was awarded the Forcht Bank All-Around Excellence Award.
Cody Jackson of Calloway County High School won the tournament’s big-bass award with a nice 6-pound, 10-ounce bass weighed in on Friday.
The 2015 KHSAA Fishing Championship was a two-person (team) event for students in grades 9-12. The event was formed after The Bass Federation (TBF) and FLW, the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, partnered with the KHSAA to present the 2015 KHSAA season, which featured four regional events across Kentucky as well as the state championship.
In addition to the KHSAA State Championship, all High School Fishing anglers nationwide automatically qualify for the world’s largest high school bass tournament, the 2015 High School Fishing World Finals, held on Pickwick Lake in Florence, Alabama, on July 8-11. At the 2014 World Finals more than $40,000 in scholarships and prizes were awarded. Visit HighSchoolFishing.org for details.
ABOUT FLW
FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2015 over the course of 240 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW" television show and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world. For more information about FLW visit FLWFishing.com and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
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 2008 to promote clean family fun and education through fishing. Visit bassfederation.com or highschoolfishing.org and “LIKE US” on Facebook.
ABOUT THE KHSAA
The Kentucky High School Athletic Association was organized in 1917 and is the agency designated by the Kentucky Department of Education to manage high school athletics in the Commonwealth. The Association is a voluntary nonprofit 501(c)3 organization made up of 280 member schools both public and private. The KHSAA sanctions 40 state championships in 12 sports and 4 sport activities, licenses and trains over 4,000 officials, provides catastrophic insurance for its more than 70,000 member school student-athletes, as well as overseeing coaching education and sports safety programs.
By: Joe Opager, Director of Public Relations
