LA CROSSE, Wis. (Aug. 25, 2020) – The McKendree University team of Nathan Doty of Decatur, Illinois, and Blake Jackson of Carterville, Illinois, won the Abu Garcia College Fishing presented by YETI at the Mississippi River event Friday with a five-bass limit weighing 14 pounds, 10 ounces. The victory earned the McKendree bass club $2,000 and qualified them to compete in the 2021 College Fishing National Championship.

The Bearcats duo won by just a 1-ounce margin over the second-place team of Jake Usher and Gannon Courtright from the University of Iowa, who weighed in five bass totaling 14 pounds, 9 ounces. The tournament launched from the Stoddard Park Boat Launch in Stoddard, Wisconsin.

The top 10 teams that advanced to the 2021 College Fishing National Championship are:

1^st:       McKendree University – Nathan Doty, Decatur, Ill., and Blake Jackson, Carterville, Ill., five bass, 14-10, $3,000

2^nd:      University of Iowa – Jake Usher, Ionia, Iowa, and Gannon Courtright, Fairfield, Iowa, five bass, 14-9, $1,000

3^rd:       University of Akron – Josh Kelly, Cortland, Ohio, five bass, 14-5, $500

4^th:       University of Wisconsin-Platteville – Brady Rufenacht, Lavalle, Wis., and Jacob Ely, Reedsburg, Wis., five bass, 13-9, $500

5^th:       Bemidji State University – Benjamin Saba, Ramsey, Minn., and Wesley Steinmetz of Blaine, Minn., five bass, 13-4, $500

6^th:       Greenville University – Cordell Beckmann, Breese, Ill., and Dru Johnson, Bartelso, Ill., five bass, 12-5

7^th:       University of Wisconsin – Tyler Fink, Mayville, Wis., and Dylan Sprain, Sparta, Wis., five bass, 12-4

8^th:       University of Iowa – Austin Bartholomew, Keosauqua, Iowa., five bass, 12-3

9^th:       Tarleton State University – Samuel Climer, Stephenville, Texas, and Kayden Tanner, Millsap, Texas, five bass, 12-2

10^th:     Purdue University – Ross Carter, Noblesville, Ind., and William Bruin, Columbus, Ind., five bass, 11-10

Complete results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.

The Abu Garcia College Fishing presented by YETI event on the Mississippi River was hosted by the La Crosse County Convention & Visitors Bureau. It was the second of three regular-season qualifying tournaments for Central Conference anglers. The next event for College Fishing anglers will be on Sept. 4 – the Abu Garcia College Fishing presented by YETI at Lake Guntersville in Guntersville, Alabama.

Abu Garcia College Fishing presented by YETI teams compete in regular-season qualifying tournaments in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. The top ten teams from each division’s three regular-season tournaments and the top 20 teams from the annual Abu Garcia College Fishing Open advance to the following year’s Abu Garcia College Fishing presented by YETI National Championship.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Abu Garcia College Fishing presented by YETI on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.