Team MillerTech (Avena/Wheeler) catches 23 bass weighing 41-5 in final-day shootout to win Heritage Cup

MANCHESTER, Tenn. (Oct. 23, 2026) – Team MillerTech’s Jacob Wheeler of Birchwood, Tennessee, and Adrian Avena of Marmora, New Jersey, capped off a dominant week of competition Friday with a commanding victory in the Championship Round of the Toyota Heritage Cup Presented by OFF!^® Deep Woods^® Repellents. The duo caught 23 scorable bass weighing 41 pounds, 5 ounces on Tims Ford Lake, cruising to a 24-pound, 12-ounce victory over Team Lucas Oil to claim the title at the second event of the 2026 MLF Starlink Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops .

Team Lucas Oil’s Michael Neal of Dayton, Tennessee, and Wesley Strader of Spring City, Tennessee, finished second with eight scorable bass weighing 16-9. The Tennessee duo jumped out to an early lead but struggled to maintain a consistent bite as the day progressed. Team Ferguson’s Brent Ehrler and Justin Lucas finished third with six bass weighing 12-12, while Team Star brite’s Bobby and Chris Lane rounded out the four-team field in fourth with six bass weighing 10-7.

Link to Hi-Res Photo of Heritage Cup Winners Team MillerTech (Avena/Wheeler)
Link to HD Video Clip of Heritage Cup Championship Round Highlights
Link to Photo Gallery: Heritage Cup Championship Round hits new section of Tims Ford Lake
Link to Photo Gallery: Team MillerTech’s Wheeler and Avena win Heritage Cup

Team MillerTech’s championship-winning performance came on a different section of Tims Ford Lake than anglers competed on during the Elimination Round. After the Knockout Round relocated to Normandy Lake, the four remaining teams returned to Tims Ford Lake for the finale, this time confined to the western portion of the lake near the dam.

Despite the change in location, Wheeler and Avena quickly recognized an opportunity to revisit the shallow-water pattern that had carried them to a dominant victory in Tuesday’s Elimination Match. Team MillerTech found its rhythm within the first hour, taking over the top spot from Team Lucas Oil and never relinquishing it.

Rather than relying heavily on forward-facing sonar, Wheeler and Avena committed to covering water with vibrating jigs, targeting shaded banks, pockets and isolated wood where bass were positioned to ambush passing baitfish. Both anglers used similar presentations, pairing bladed jigs with soft-plastic trailers, including the Rapala CrushCity Mooch Minnow and Rapala CrushCity Freeloader, and worked quickly through productive stretches of shoreline.

The approach allowed the pair to steadily build their lead throughout the day, with Avena accounting for 14 scorable bass weighing 25 pounds, 7 ounces – enough to win the Championship Round on his own. Wheeler contributed another nine bass for 15-14, giving Team MillerTech a combined 41-5 and a decisive victory over the field.

“Today was all about chucking and winding,” Wheeler said. “We went to several different places and made adjustments on the fly. We caught a couple on a minnow this morning, but then we transitioned over to what Adrian was throwing. Once we got on that vibrating jig bite, we were able to cover a lot of water and keep running places that looked good.”

The key was identifying the right combination of shade, shoreline cover and fish activity, then continuing to search for similar conditions as the sun shifted throughout the day. With the fall sun creating increasingly defined shade lines along the banks, Wheeler and Avena focused on making efficient casts to high-percentage targets rather than slowing down to thoroughly work individual areas.

Avena said confidence in their presentations and the ability to capitalize on key opportunities proved critical.

“Jacob and I were throwing really similar setups, just two different brands,” Avena said. “I was using a 7-foot, 3-inch, medium-heavy Abu Garcia Fantasista X Casting Rod with an Abu Garcia Zenon reel, and we just covered a lot of water. The biggest thing was having confidence in what we were throwing. We honestly threw the same bait for a big portion of the day, and being able to maximize those key casts is what allowed us to hoist the Heritage Cup trophies.”

While the pair established a commanding advantage early in the day, Wheeler said the nature of the every-fish-counts format meant there was little room to become complacent. Instead, they continued moving through new water, adjusting their approach as changing sunlight and occasional wind created additional opportunities.

“Once we had a good lead, we just continued to run throughout the day,” Wheeler said. “It’s more fun to run new areas and fish stuff that looks good to you. You never know when that next bite is going to happen. As the sun changes, those shade lines start to appear, and you have to make adjustments with your eyes. If something looks right and fits the pattern, you stop and fish it. We knew we had a decent lead, but no lead is safe in this format.”

For Wheeler, the win continued a remarkable stretch in the Team Series, marking his third consecutive Team Series win, each with a different partner. After winning the 2025 Heritage Cup alongside Mark Daniels Jr. and the 2025 Patriot Cup with Dustin Connell, Wheeler added another victory with Avena to a résumé that already includes 12 Bass Pro Tour victories and four Angler of the Year titles.

“This was an awesome week, and it was great to be back in the boat with Adrian,” Wheeler said. “I’m looking forward to adding this one to the trophy case.”

The final four teams at the Toyota Heritage Cup Presented by OFF!^® Deep Woods^® Repellents finished:

1st:          Team MillerTech, 23 bass, 41-5
Adrian Avena, Marmora, N.J., 14 bass, 25-7
Jacob Wheeler, Birchwood, Tenn., nine bass, 15-14

2nd:        Team Lucas Oil, eight bass, 16-9
Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., four bass, 8-3
Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., four bass, 8-6

3rd:        Team Ferguson, six bass, 12-12
Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., one bass, 1-14
Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 10-14

4th:         Team Star brite, six bass, 10-7
Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., four bass, 7-9
Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., two bass, 2-14

Complete results from throughout the week can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, the four teams caught 43 bass weighing 81 pounds, 1 ounce in the Championship Round Friday on Tims Ford Lake. Team Ferguson pro Justin Lucas caught the Berkley Big Bass of the day – a 3-pound, 1-ounce smallmouth bass.

The Toyota Heritage Cup Presented by OFF!^® Deep Woods^® Repellents, the second of four Starlink Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops events of the 2026 season, was hosted by Experience Tennessee, in partnership with Manchester, TN, Winchester, TN, the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, Bill Dance Signature Lakes and Fish Tennessee, and took place over six days in Manchester, Tennessee. The competition water for each day was top secret and only revealed to the anglers when they arrived at the boat ramp each morning.

The Toyota Heritage Cup Presented by OFF!^® Deep Woods^® Repellents featured 12 two-man teams divided into three groups as they entered the one-day Elimination Round matches. Each of the three Elimination Round matches featured four new teams, with the top two teams from each match of the Elimination Round advancing to the Knockout Round on Days 4 & 5. In the Knockout Rounds, three teams competed each day, with the top two teams from each Knockout Round match moving on to the Championship Round on Day 6. In Friday’s Day 6 Championship Round, the final four teams competed in a one-day shootout to determine which team was the winner of the 2026 Toyota Heritage Cup Presented by OFF!^® Deep Woods^® Repellents.

The MLF Starlink Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops features four Cup events in 2026 – the Patriot, Heritage, Challenge, and Summit Cups – with 12 two-man teams of Bass Pro Tour anglers competing for a share of  $560,000 in prize money.

The MLF Starlink Team Series Toyota Heritage Cup Presented by OFF!^® Deep Woods^® Repellents will premiere on Outdoor Channel as six two-hour original episodes each Saturday afternoon beginning in February 2027. The complete television schedule for the Starlink Team Series on Outdoor Channel will be posted at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Proud sponsors of the MLF Starlink Team Series include: Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Boat Technologies, Bass Pro Shops, Bass Force, Berkley, Black Buffalo, BUBBA, Cigars International, Epic Baits, Ferguson, Grizzly Nicotine Pouches, Kubota, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, MillerTech, NITRO Boats, OFF! Deep Woods Repellents, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Starlink, Toyota, YETI, Yuengling and Zenni.

For complete details and updated information on the MLF Starlink Team Series, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook,  X, Instagram and  YouTube.

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