EUFAULA, Ala. (March 16, 2026) – The McKendree University duo of seniors Jaxson Freeman of Loda, Illinois, and Evan Sutton of Highland, Illinois, won the MLF Columbia PFG College Fishing Presented by Abu Garcia event on Lake Eufaula Friday with a five-bass limit weighing 25 pounds, 5 ounces. The victory earned the Bearcats’ bass club $2,000 and a qualification into the 2027 MLF College Fishing National Championship.

“We took off and had a shallow bite going around the state park where we took off,” Freeman said. “It was a frogging and buzzbait type of deal.

“We did that for about 30 minutes and didn’t get any fish at all,” Freeman continued. “So, we ran down the lake about 20 miles and got into our brush and they were not eating a Neko rig. And that’s basically what we had been catching them on in practice.”

Sutton said the Bearcats teammates drew boat number 179 and started their day not too far from takeoff but ended up focusing their efforts most of the day near the dam and focused on shallow flats with brush. Knowing they needed a spark to get their day kickstarted, Sutton tried an Alabama rig and quickly caught a bass that weighed 6-8.

“From there on out we caught 60-plus fish on the A-rig,” Freeman said. “We just rotated about 20 brushpiles the entire day.”

Ten minutes after the 6-pound, 8-ounce bass was landed the team boated a fish that weighed 6-11.

“We were sitting at 20 pounds with three 2-pounders in the box, so we were thinking all we need is is two more big bites,” Sutton said. “We had six hours (left) at that point, and we were trying to get those two big bites to get up to that 25-pound range, which is what we predicted it would take to win.”

“This win feels amazing,” Sutton went on to say. “It makes me want to continue pursuing fishing after college.”

The top 10 teams finished:

1st: McKendree University – Jaxson Freeman, Loda, Ill., and Evan Sutton, Highland, Ill., five bass, 25-5, $2,000
2nd: University of Montevallo – Trace Antunes, Henderson, Texas, and Garrett Ring, Greenbrier, Ark., five bass, 24-14, $1,000
3rd: University of Montevallo – Storm Clark, Ellerslie, Ga., and Elisha Colley, Fort Payne, Ala., five bass, 23-4, $700
4th: Emmanuel University – Jackson Thomas, Cumming, Ga., and Will Wester, Royston, Ga., five bass, 22-10, $600
5th: University of Montevallo – Hudson Choquette, Montevallo, Ala., and Wyatt Wood, Senioa, Ga., five bass, 22-8, $500
6th: McKendree University – Carson Belville, Rushville, Ill., and Tucker Siminak, Trevor, Wis., five bass, 21-11
7th: University of Montevallo – Michael Markham, Tallassee, Ala., and Brody Mitchell, Huntsville, Ala., five bass, 21-11
8th: Adrian College –Mattix Durst, Harmony, Pa., and Jack Kropp, Mount Clemens, Mich., five bass, 21-6
9th: McKendree University – Kai Barnett, Lebanon, Ill., and Jack Stephens, St. Louis, Mo., five bass, 21-3
10th: University of Montevallo – Connor Bell, Lisbon, N.Y., and Tucker McCoy, Warrior, Ala., five bass, 20-15

Complete results for the entire field, along with the full list of National Championship Qualifier teams can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The MLF Columbia PFG College Fishing Presented by Abu Garcia event on Lake Eufaula was hosted by the Eufaula Barbour County Chamber of Commerce. The next tournament for MLF College Fishing anglers will be the Columbia PFG College Fishing Presented by Abu Garcia event on Table Rock Lake Presented by Suzuki Marine, April 10 in Branson, Missouri.

The 2026 MLF Columbia PFG College Fishing Presented by Abu Garcia season features college teams from across the country competing in six regular-season open tournaments, plus the Columbia PFG College Fishing Heavy Hitters all-star event. The top 15 percent of teams from each regular-season tournament advance to the 2027 Columbia PFG College Fishing Presented by Abu Garcia National Championship.

Proud sponsors of MLF Columbia PFG College Fishing Presented by Abu Garcia include: 7 Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, Columbia PFG, Epic Baits, Mercury, MillerTech, OFF! Deep Woods, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, PirahnO2, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Suzuki Marine, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, VOSKER and YETI.

For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular College Fishing updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery, Outdoor Channel, VICE, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network, RFD-TV, Game & Fish TV and Rumble, and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 20 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.