BRANSON, Mo. (March 9, 2020) – The Western Michigan University duo of Joshua Lopez of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and John Neubauer of Decatur, Michigan, won the Abu Garcia College Fishing presented by YETI at Table Rock Lake Friday with a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 5 ounces. The victory earned the Broncos’ bass club $2,000 and qualified them to compete in the 2021 FLW College Fishing National Championship.

image004.jpgThe Western Michigan team won by a narrow 3-ounce margin over the second-place duo of Tad Deatherage and Caleb Romazon from the University of Central Missouri, who weighed in five bass totaling 18 pounds, 3 ounces. The tournament launched from the Table Rock Lake State Park Marina in Branson, Missouri.

The top 10 teams from each division’s three regular-season tournaments advance to the 2021 Abu Garcia College Fishing presented by YETI College Championship. Per FLW rules, additional teams qualify for the National Championship if the field size in regular-season events exceeds 100 boats. A field of 130 teams competed at Table Rock Lake, so 13 teams now advance to the Championship.

The top 13 teams that advanced to the 2021 College Fishing National Championship are:

1st: Western Michigan University – Joshua Lopez, Kalamazoo, Mich., and John Neubauer, Decatur, Mich., five bass, 18-5, $2,000

2nd: University of Central Missouri – Tad Deatherage, Concordia, Mo., and Caleb Romazon, Excelsior Springs, Mo., five bass, 18-2, $1,000

3rd: University of Wisconsin – Michael East, Chilton, Wis., and Dustin Li, Madison, Wis., five bass, 17-11, $500

4th: University of Louisiana-Monroe – Jacob Andrews, Monroe, La., and Taylor Kolb, West Monroe, La., five bass, 16-9, $500

5th: University of Missouri – Jonathan Hardy, Columbia, Mo., and David Goddard, Bowling Green, Mo., five bass, 15-15, $500

6th: University of Central Missouri – Tyler Bartlett, Lees Summit, Mo., and Kyler Waisner, Greenwood, Mo., five bass, 15-15

7th: University of Missouri – Justin Luetkemeyer and Joshua Luetkemeyer, both of Chesterfield, Mo., five bass, 15-12

8th: Arkansas Tech University – Tristan Weaver, Sage, Ark., and Cole Lamb, Melbourne, Ark., five bass, 15-10

9th: Eastern Kentucky University – Leighton Hensley, Salyersville, Ky., and Josh Boone, Richmond, Ky., five bass, 15-5

10th: Missouri Western State University – Kody Mazur and Gaige Blanton, both of Saint Joseph, Mo., five bass, 15-5

11th: Kansas State University – Brett Halstead, Riley, Kan., and Kyle Simmons, Leonardville, Kan., five bass, 15-4

12th: Kansas State University – Hunter French, Manhattan, Kan., and Brianna Wagoner, Kansas City, Mo., five bass, 15-4

13th: McKendree University – Tyler Christy, Bolingbrook, Ill., and Trey Schroeder, Crestwood, Mo., five bass, 15-0

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

The Abu Garcia College Fishing presented by YETI event on Table Rock Lake was hosted by Explore Branson. It was the first of three regular-season qualifying tournaments for Central Conference anglers. The next event for College Fishing anglers will be on March 17-18 at the annual Abu Garcia College Fishing presented by YETI OPEN at Kentucky Lake.

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.