Cole Sands and Conner Dimauro, from Tennessee’s Bryan College, are leading after Day 2 of the 2020 Carhartt Bassmaster College National Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops with a two-day total of 55 pounds, 12 ounces.

Photo by Kyle Jessie/B.A.S.S.

October 30, 2020
LEESBURG, Fla. — Bryan College’s Cole Sands and Conner Dimauro continued their strong showing at the Carhartt Bassmaster College National Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops at the Harris Chain of Lakes and extended their lead with a 27-pound, 5-ounce bag for a two-day total of 55-12.

They lead the Lamar State College-Orange team of Jack Tindell and Brett Fregia by a little more than 15 pounds heading into the final day.

“Ultimately, we want to finish in the Top 4 to make the (College Classic) Bracket. Obviously, we want to win this one,” Dimauro said. “I’m confident that we left fish biting both days, and I’m pleased with the size of the fish we are catching.

“We are excited about it. Whenever you set the hook and you know it could be over 5 pounds, it gets a little scary.”

While the morning started a little chillier than Day 1 thanks to a cold front that pushed through overnight, they started on their best spot in Lake Dora and took advantage of a good morning bite, catching all of their weight before 10 a.m.

Dimauro said the bite on that spot was even better Friday than it was Thursday when they caught over 28 pounds. Their bag was anchored by a 7-14 largemouth that Sands said they were fortunate to get in the boat.

“It straightened the hook completely out,” he said. “These fish are so mean here. We think it came unhooked because there is a hook mark in its tongue and where it was actually hooked (was in the jaw).”

After catching a couple of 4-pounders that wouldn’t cull their smallest fish, the duo moved back to Lake Harris to scan with their Humminbird electronics, finding a couple more areas they could utilize Saturday.

“We culled what we needed to cull out and we just ran around,” Dimauro said. “We ran back to Harris and caught two fish over 4 pounds that didn’t help. So, we figured we were burning fish we needed to catch tomorrow.

“We idled a lot more today just looking for some new stuff for tomorrow. We aren’t going to let off of them tomorrow.”

Slow-moving baits have been the key to their success so far this week, Sands said. But they will have plenty of rods rigged up in case they find some aggressive fish.

“I kind of figured out a deal in practice dragging something really slow,” Sands said. “It worked so good Conner tied one on yesterday and we both have been catching fish on it. We actually experimented today.

“We backed off and found a new school of fish and caught like a 5- and 4 1/2- (pounder) off it. Caught one on a football jig and that was pretty cool.”

Dimauro added that side scan on his Humminbird units has helped them find fish and mark the edges of the grass, and his Ultrex trolling motor has helped them stay on their spots when the wind has been blowing.

After starting the day in fourth, Jack Tindell and Brett Fregia from Lamar State College-Orange caught 20-5 to jump into second place with 40-11.

“It feels good. It is our first year fishing,” Fregia said. “We came down here just knowing we were going to fish in Florida, and we were pretty amped up about it. We feel like we can get more bites tomorrow since the water heated up all day and it is going to be pretty warm in the morning.”

Unlike the Bryan College team, the morning bite did not pan out for Tindell and Fregia on Day 2. Tindell said wind hurt the bite in one of their best spots, and they switched to some secondary spots that were in protected areas.

“Throughout practice, we were doing some early-morning hydrilla fishing,” Tindell said. “Those fish have just gone away. We had two bites this morning and didn’t even catch them. Today it took a little bit longer to get a good bite.”

Tindell and Fregia flipped throughout the day and it paid off when they each landed a 6-pounder out of the same clump of grass to fill their limit.

Ty Black and Avry Thomason from Georgia Southern University caught 20-4 to move from sixth place to third with 39-9. Black said the first spot they pulled up on was blown out by the wind, forcing them to make an adjustment.

“We went to a spot we saved and caught a 4-pounder, and then we moved to another one of our banks and caught a limit,” Black said. “We went to our best offshore spot around 10:30 and that’s where we caught the majority of our weight.”

Thomason said a crankbait has been the key to their success offshore and has accounted for the majority of their weight this week.

Bryce Henley and Reese Kingston from Brewton-Parker College took over Carhartt Big Bass of the tournament with a 9-3 lunker that anchored their 20-9 bag. Several other teams weighed in fish over 8 pounds.

The Top 12 will take off from Venetian Gardens Saturday at 7:30 a.m. ET and will return for weigh-in at 3:30 p.m. The Top 4 teams after the final day will advance to the College Classic Bracket on Alabama’s Lay Lake in November for a chance to qualify for the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic.

2020 Carhartt Bassmaster College National Championship presented by
Bass Pro Shops 10/29-10/31
Harris Chain Of Lakes, Leesburg FL.
(BOATER) Standings Day 2

Angler Club/School Pts

1. Cole Sands – Conner Dimauro Bryan College 250
Day 1: 5 28-07 Day 2: 5 27-05 Total: 10 55-12
2. Jack Tindell – Brett Fregia Lamar State College Orange 249
Day 1: 5 20-06 Day 2: 5 20-05 Total: 10 40-11
3. Ty Black – Avry Thomason Georgia Southern University 248
Day 1: 5 19-05 Day 2: 5 20-04 Total: 10 39-09
4. Miller Spivey – Trey Dickert University of Montevallo 247
Day 1: 5 16-05 Day 2: 5 22-10 Total: 10 38-15
5. Rudolph Worley – John Nowlin Blue Mountain College 246
Day 1: 5 12-01 Day 2: 5 26-05 Total: 10 38-06
6. Brian Linder – Nathan Thompson Minnesota State Univ Mankato 245
Day 1: 5 19-14 Day 2: 5 17-14 Total: 10 37-12
7. Tyler Lubbat – Calvin Landsberg 244
Day 1: 5 25-01 Day 2: 5 11-15 Total: 10 37-00
8. Cole Thompson – Benson Dowler 243
Day 1: 5 15-05 Day 2: 5 21-01 Total: 10 36-06
9. Mason Moore – Logan Estes Eastern Kentucky University 242
Day 1: 5 17-04 Day 2: 5 16-14 Total: 10 34-02
10. Trevor McKinney – Blake Jackson McKendree University 241
Day 1: 5 20-08 Day 2: 5 13-08 Total: 10 34-00
11. Ty Cox – Fisher Overton Blue Mountain College 240
Day 1: 2 07-05 Day 2: 5 26-10 Total: 7 33-15
12. Dax Ewart – Kyle Palmer Bethel University 239
Day 1: 5 16-08 Day 2: 5 16-10 Total: 10 33-02
13. Luke Byerly – Drew Elrod University of Tennessee 238
Day 1: 5 19-05 Day 2: 5 13-12 Total: 10 33-01
14. Kyle Stafford – Jake Stines Polk State College 237
Day 1: 5 18-02 Day 2: 5 14-11 Total: 10 32-13
15. James Willoughby – Chance Schwartz University of Montevallo 236
Day 1: 5 17-12 Day 2: 5 13-06 Total: 10 31-02
16. Grant Adams – Wil Rigdon Campbellsville University 235
Day 1: 5 16-15 Day 2: 5 13-12 Total: 10 30-11
17. Zeke Gossett – Lucas Smith Jacksonville State University 234
Day 1: 5 12-00 Day 2: 5 18-01 Total: 10 30-01
18. Chase Mundhenke – Blake Milligan Auburn University 233
Day 1: 5 16-10 Day 2: 5 13-04 Total: 10 29-14
19. Tanner Ward – Rory Franks Kent State University 232
Day 1: 5 17-04 Day 2: 5 12-04 Total: 10 29-08
20. Grant Pavelka – Mid-Plains Community College 231
Day 1: 5 11-14 Day 2: 5 17-02 Total: 10 29-00
21. Jacob Frazier – Griffin Heffington Carson-Newman University 230
Day 1: 5 15-03 Day 2: 5 13-12 Total: 10 28-15
22. Connor Jacob – Sam Smith Auburn University 229
Day 1: 5 12-00 Day 2: 5 16-10 Total: 10 28-10
23. Dawson Andrews – Wyatt Ensminger Southeastern Louisiana Universit 228
Day 1: 5 13-08 Day 2: 5 15-00 Total: 10 28-08
24. Noah Boyett – Ty Garlington 227
Day 1: 5 18-04 Day 2: 5 10-00 Total: 10 28-04
25. Logan Hawkins – Colby Hays Campbellsville University 226
Day 1: 5 10-03 Day 2: 5 17-13 Total: 10 28-00
26. Bailey Fain – Preston Kendrick Bryan College 225
Day 1: 5 12-09 Day 2: 5 15-06 Total: 10 27-15
27. Dawson Cassidy – Gus Mclarry Texas AM Commerce 224
Day 1: 5 17-09 Day 2: 5 10-00 Total: 10 27-09
28. Emil Wagner – 223
Day 1: 5 16-05 Day 2: 5 11-04 Total: 10 27-09
29. Brad Ableman – Wilson Smith Bethel University 222
Day 1: 5 11-00 Day 2: 5 16-07 Total: 10 27-07
30. Austin Smith – Maddux Walters Carson-Newman University 221
Day 1: 5 12-14 Day 2: 5 14-08 Total: 10 27-06
31. Brett Clark – Cody Ross East Texas Baptist University 220
Day 1: 5 13-13 Day 2: 5 13-08 Total: 10 27-05
32. Jared Turnbloom – Jake Turnbloom 219
Day 1: 5 16-04 Day 2: 5 10-06 Total: 10 26-10
33. Jack Dice – Liberty University 218
Day 1: 5 12-01 Day 2: 5 14-09 Total: 10 26-10
34. Nolan Minor – Casey Lanier 217
Day 1: 5 15-05 Day 2: 5 11-03 Total: 10 26-08
35. Robert Cruvellier – Chase Clarke Auburn University 216
Day 1: 5 09-06 Day 2: 5 16-14 Total: 10 26-04
36. Grant Lesage – Zach Davis Southeastern Louisiana Universit 215
Day 1: 5 16-01 Day 2: 5 10-02 Total: 10 26-03
37. Weston Hollar – Wesley Gore University of Montevallo 214
Day 1: 5 14-13 Day 2: 5 11-05 Total: 10 26-02
38. Boone Faulkner – Nikolas Beckstein 213
Day 1: 5 13-11 Day 2: 5 12-07 Total: 10 26-02
39. Hayden Scott – Caleb Dachenhaus Adrian College 212
Day 1: 5 14-02 Day 2: 5 11-02 Total: 10 25-04
40. Bobby Long – Whit Edmonds Lander University 211
Day 1: 5 06-10 Day 2: 5 18-05 Total: 10 24-15
41. Jack York – Samuel Harrison Stephen F Austin State Universit 210
Day 1: 5 14-08 Day 2: 5 10-02 Total: 10 24-10
42. Clayton Winebarger – Logan Reynolds Virginia Tech 209
Day 1: 5 13-10 Day 2: 5 10-15 Total: 10 24-09
43. Thaddeus Simerly – Ethan Shaw Bryan College 208
Day 1: 5 16-11 Day 2: 5 07-12 Total: 10 24-07
44. Wyatt Reid – Gehrig DeFronzo Erskine College 207
Day 1: 5 13-15 Day 2: 5 10-01 Total: 10 24-00
45. Cordell Beckman – Greenville University 206
Day 1: 5 10-09 Day 2: 5 13-06 Total: 10 23-15
46. Jack Rankin – Hunter Baird Drury University 205
Day 1: 5 12-14 Day 2: 5 11-00 Total: 10 23-14
47. Jarred Jones – Logan Tate Jacksonville State University 204
Day 1: 5 12-13 Day 2: 5 11-01 Total: 10 23-14
48. Conner Giles – Christian Wright Bryan College 0
Day 1: 5 08-04 Day 2: 5 15-02 Total: 10 23-06
49. Grant Hack – Jonathan Stepp Ohio State 202
Day 1: 5 16-06 Day 2: 5 06-15 Total: 10 23-05
50. Cole Breeden – Cameron Smith Drury University 201
Day 1: 5 10-05 Day 2: 5 12-15 Total: 10 23-04
51. Garrett Guinan – John Paul Kent State University 200
Day 1: 5 12-07 Day 2: 5 10-10 Total: 10 23-01
52. Cal Culpepper – Mason Waddell University of Montevallo 199
Day 1: 5 13-06 Day 2: 5 09-07 Total: 10 22-13
53. Robert Howard – Miles Lucas Stephen F Austin State Universit 198
Day 1: 5 12-00 Day 2: 5 10-11 Total: 10 22-11
54. Cole Lamb – Tristan Weaver Arkansas Tech University 197
Day 1: 5 13-13 Day 2: 5 08-12 Total: 10 22-09
55. Hayden Gaddis – Ben Cully Carson-Newman University 196
Day 1: 5 12-10 Day 2: 5 09-04 Total: 10 21-14
56. Andrew Fisher – Bennett Kudder Bryan College 195
Day 1: 5 10-07 Day 2: 5 11-05 Total: 10 21-12
57. Harbor Lovin – Zachary Martin Murray State University 194
Day 1: 5 16-12 Day 2: 4 04-12 Total: 9 21-08
58. Evan Haley – Chase Arkell Marshall University 193
Day 1: 3 05-06 Day 2: 5 16-02 Total: 8 21-08
59. Solomon Glenn – Hunter Ward University of Montevallo 192
Day 1: 5 14-14 Day 2: 5 06-09 Total: 10 21-07
60. Matthew Bradham – Caleb Stephenson Campbellsville University 0
Day 1: 5 13-06 Day 2: 4 08-01 Total: 9 21-07
61. Josh Dugger – Jake Dugger Arkansas Tech University 190
Day 1: 1 02-10 Day 2: 5 18-11 Total: 6 21-05
62. Mark Harris – Reece Martin Dallas Baptist University 189
Day 1: 5 08-10 Day 2: 5 12-09 Total: 10 21-03
63. Adam Carroll – Justin Barnes University of Montevallo 188
Day 1: 5 11-11 Day 2: 5 09-08 Total: 10 21-03
64. Bryce Henley – Reese Kingston Brewton-Parker College 187
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 5 20-09 Total: 5 20-09
65. Britt Myers – Tyler Anderson Lander University 186
Day 1: 5 09-06 Day 2: 5 11-03 Total: 10 20-09
66. Wesley Pennington – University of North Alabama 185
Day 1: 5 13-12 Day 2: 2 06-12 Total: 7 20-08
67. Samuel Vandagriff – Jacob Woods Tennessee Tech University 184
Day 1: 5 16-15 Day 2: 3 03-08 Total: 8 20-07
68. Austin Carr – Justin Carr 183
Day 1: 5 07-11 Day 2: 5 12-12 Total: 10 20-07
69. Griffin Phillips – Ethan King University of Montevallo 182
Day 1: 5 11-08 Day 2: 5 08-15 Total: 10 20-07
70. Lane Bailey – Adam Seagle Catawba Valley Community College 181
Day 1: 5 09-05 Day 2: 5 11-00 Total: 10 20-05
71. Jake Lee – Mason Cizek Bryan College 180
Day 1: 5 09-12 Day 2: 5 10-08 Total: 10 20-04
72. Cameron Gautreau – Cade Fortenberry Nicholls State University 179
Day 1: 5 10-07 Day 2: 5 09-11 Total: 10 20-02
73. Grayson Morris – Jacob Pfundt University of Montevallo 178
Day 1: 5 07-08 Day 2: 5 12-07 Total: 10 19-15
74. Braxton Resweber – University of Louisiana at Lafay 177
Day 1: 5 11-03 Day 2: 5 08-03 Total: 10 19-06
75. Sean Clayton – Owen Dimaio Clemson University 176
Day 1: 5 10-05 Day 2: 5 08-13 Total: 10 19-02
76. Atom Ward – Gavin Lagle Indiana University Southeast 175
Day 1: 5 09-04 Day 2: 5 09-11 Total: 10 18-15
77. Fisher Young – Alden Keel Jr Blue Mountain College 174
Day 1: 5 10-00 Day 2: 5 08-14 Total: 10 18-14
78. Griffin Fernandes – Gunner Wilson Adrian College 173
Day 1: 5 12-11 Day 2: 5 06-01 Total: 10 18-12
79. Matthew Cummings – Joseph Woods Bethel University 172
Day 1: 5 11-01 Day 2: 5 07-08 Total: 10 18-09
80. Neal Wisinski – Nathan Siclovan University of Wisconsin Stevens 171
Day 1: 5 11-02 Day 2: 5 07-06 Total: 10 18-08
81. Joseph McClosky – Ryan Winchester Bethel University 170
Day 1: 5 09-09 Day 2: 5 08-13 Total: 10 18-06
82. Dalton Smith – Bradley Dunagan Campbellsville University 169
Day 1: 4 07-12 Day 2: 5 10-09 Total: 9 18-05
83. Tyler Vanbrandt – Grant Gallagher Adrian College 168
Day 1: 5 08-06 Day 2: 5 09-07 Total: 10 17-13
84. Cody Gregory – Levi Mullins Bethel University 167
Day 1: 5 08-03 Day 2: 5 09-03 Total: 10 17-06
85. Jr Young – Hunter Bailey Jacksonville State University 166
Day 1: 5 06-02 Day 2: 5 11-03 Total: 10 17-05
86. Drew Pridgen – Kaleb Brown Lander University 165
Day 1: 5 07-14 Day 2: 5 09-07 Total: 10 17-05
87. Drew Coker – Peyton Vinson 164
Day 1: 5 10-05 Day 2: 5 06-15 Total: 10 17-04
88. Logan Parks – Cody Griffith Auburn University 163
Day 1: 5 08-08 Day 2: 5 08-07 Total: 10 16-15
89. Kyle Everett – John Higginbotham LA Tech 162
Day 1: 5 14-00 Day 2: 2 02-14 Total: 7 16-14
90. Will Leonard – Jared Page Kent State University 161
Day 1: 4 04-00 Day 2: 5 12-14 Total: 9 16-14
91. Patrick Pelt – Anthony Vintson Auburn University 160
Day 1: 5 08-09 Day 2: 5 08-01 Total: 10 16-10
92. Bryce Fowler – Chris Bowen East Carolina University 159
Day 1: 5 08-01 Day 2: 4 08-08 Total: 9 16-09
93. Blake Spradlin – William Phillips Auburn University 158
Day 1: 5 08-13 Day 2: 5 07-10 Total: 10 16-07
94. Jeremy Dellinger – Nathan Smith Catawba Valley Community College 157
Day 1: 5 11-04 Day 2: 4 04-12 Total: 9 16-00
95. Alec Coffey – Kyle Roy Campbellsville University 156
Day 1: 5 08-12 Day 2: 5 06-15 Total: 10 15-11
96. Jarrett Brown – Tyler Harless University of Montevallo 155
Day 1: 5 09-09 Day 2: 5 05-13 Total: 10 15-06
97. Andrew Heppe – Bryce Miller Kent State University 154
Day 1: 5 09-07 Day 2: 4 05-14 Total: 9 15-05
98. Trey Schroeder – Tyler Christy McKendree University 153
Day 1: 5 07-09 Day 2: 5 07-10 Total: 10 15-03
99. Braden Perry – Aidan England Carson-Newman University 152
Day 1: 5 09-15 Day 2: 3 04-08 Total: 8 14-07
100. Tommy Sendek – University of Montevallo 151
Day 1: 5 08-06 Day 2: 5 06-00 Total: 10 14-06
101. Ben Ford – Cole Bathje Augustana College 150
Day 1: 5 06-09 Day 2: 2 06-05 Total: 7 12-14
102. Jj Kocevar – Tanner Shriver Kent State University 149
Day 1: 5 09-12 Day 2: 2 02-11 Total: 7 12-07
103. Jack Long – Brock Bila Drury University 148
Day 1: 5 09-11 Day 2: 2 02-12 Total: 7 12-07
104. Logan Anderson – Josh Frederick North Carolina State University 147
Day 1: 5 09-02 Day 2: 1 03-02 Total: 6 12-04
105. Garrett Warren – Will Jones Auburn University 146
Day 1: 5 11-13 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 5 11-13
106. Zach Vielhauer – Michael Mueting Kansas State University 145
Day 1: 5 06-12 Day 2: 3 04-10 Total: 8 11-06
107. Tyler Pendergrass – Avery Whitwell University of North Alabama 144
Day 1: 5 06-12 Day 2: 2 04-09 Total: 7 11-05
108. Lawson Graves – Cameron Glasscock Wallace State Community College 143
Day 1: 1 00-12 Day 2: 4 09-15 Total: 5 10-11
109. Zachary Asher – Jacob Klicman Kent State University 142
Day 1: 5 06-02 Day 2: 3 04-07 Total: 8 10-09
110. Landon Lawson – Donavan Carson King University 141
Day 1: 3 05-09 Day 2: 3 05-00 Total: 6 10-09
111. Nolan Yeager – Ethan LeGare Stephen F. Austin State Universi 140
Day 1: 5 10-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 5 10-00
112. Jake Maddux – Chace Gregory Southern Union Community College 139
Day 1: 5 09-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 5 09-00
113. GL Compton – Matthew Sprouse Clemson University 138
Day 1: 3 06-07 Day 2: 2 02-08 Total: 5 08-15
114. James Duncan – Blake Stringer Campbellsville University 137
Day 1: 1 00-13 Day 2: 5 07-14 Total: 6 08-11
115. Ethan Jones – Andrew Althoff Mckendree University 136
Day 1: 3 03-12 Day 2: 3 03-14 Total: 6 07-10
116. Gunner Whitaker – Lafe Messer Kentucky Christian University 135
Day 1: 5 07-08 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 5 07-08
117. Evan Thomas – Alex Briggs Hampden Academy 134
Day 1: 2 04-14 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 2 04-14
118. Cole Cloud – Blake Wade 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
118. Seth Roberts – Bethel University 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00