Tennessee Tech’s bass fishing team was victorious at the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Classic Exhibiton.
Matt Allen, the president of the bass fishing team, and Caden Watson, a first year freshman secured the win for Tech’s bass fishing team.
The two students began their journey for the exhibition by packing their bags and heading to Lake Hudson in Oklahoma for their shot at victory.
Once they arrived to the competition, Watson and Allen were ready to get started for the competition. Allen and Watson were on their boat ready to start the practice round when they hit a standing piece of timber which forced them to only use the trolling motor on the boat. The trolling motor is a less powerful motor, which is more quiet when steering the boat.
With the team’s boat debilitated, the students were forced to fish near the ramp of the lake rather than ride across the lake. Meanwhile, the team’s competition had access by boat to the entire lake.
“Quitting wasn’t even an option, especially after driving that far. We knew it was going to be a tough tournament. We thought if we could focus and fish hard then we could still have a chance to win,” said Allen.
Even though the team was restricted to the ramp area of the Lake Hudson while the competition was moving to deeper water, Tech’s team was able to stay in the competition with one of their first fish.
“We didn’t realize how big our fish actually were until we put them on the scales and it said 18-1. That’s when it kind of set in that we had won,” said Allen.
They caught four bass weighing 18 pounds, 1 ounce, during the competition.
Allen was ecstatic about the victory.
“I feel like it was a long time coming, for myself and the team as a whole,” said Allen. “We have a lot of really good guys on the team, and I’m surprised that a big win had not happened until now.”
Fellow team member, Dylan Fehr, who has been on the team for the past three years said, “Matt deserved to win this tournament in his last semester at Tech. Matt is an awesome guy, and a great president for the club. You better remember his name because he is going to do big things.”
The bass fishing team will be competing in more national championship qualifiers in April and May.
