GROVE, Okla.– Two Michiana high schoolers finished ninth in Major League Fishing’s Abu Garcia High School Fishing National Championship on Grand Lake, Ok.
There were 232 high school two-man teams entered in the contest.
Wesson Vint of Syracuse, Ind. and JJ Gruber of Mishawaka finished with nine bass weighing 33 pounds, 12 ounces.
High schoolers are allowed to weigh-in three fish per day. The Hoosiers were in 19th place after the first day with 11 pounds 12 ounces but surged to third place after Day 2 with 13 pounds, 12 ounces. They had 7-7 in the finals.
Cooper Moon and Carson Holbert of the Cartersville Fishing Team in Georgia won the tournament, winning a pair of trophies, matching $5,000 checks to spend on college, and the title of 2025 National Champions.
The Georgia high school seniors sacked up 13-15 on the final day to finish the three-day event with 44-1 – good enough for a 3-pound win over Dylan Sorrells and Andrew Waters (41-1) of the Texas Highland Park Bass Team.
“We came out here with an open mind, learned as much about the lake as we could in practice, and kind of just worked our way through it, day by day,” Holbert said. “There were almost 400 teams fishing, so we knew it was a little bit of a long shot just because of the numbers. But we figured out a few things that got us onto bigger fish and ran with it.”
Moon and Holbert spent the majority of their tournament fishing what they referred to as “transitional” water – rocky structure in 8 to 12 feet of water that seemed to harbor bigger-than-average fish while remaining impervious to the fluctuating water on Grand Lake. They started the tournament with 15-12 on Day 1 and held onto the lead with 14-6 on Day 2 before finishing with 13-15 on Friday to secure the win.
The teams of Carson Mowdy and Colton Stewart of the Milano Eagles (37-10); Jackson Roumbanis and Lawson Lewis of the Russellville Cyclones (37-4); and Wyatt Woods and Wyatt McBride of Lexington High School (35-5) rounded out the Top 5.
The Top 10 teams at the 2025 Abu Garcia High School Fishing National Championship on Grand Lake finished:
1st: Cartersville Fishing Team – Cooper Moon, White, Ga., and Carson Holbert, Louisville, Tenn., nine bass, 44-1
2nd: Highland Park Bass Team – Dylan Sorrells, Dallas, Texas, and Andrew Waters, Melissa, Texas, nine bass, 41-1
3rd: Milano Eagles – Carson Mowdy and Colton Stewart, both of Milano, Texas, nine bass, 37-10
4th: Russellville Cyclones – Jackson Roumbanis, Russellville, Ark., and Lawson Lewis, Knoxville, Ark., nine bass, 37-4
5th: Lexington High School Bulldogs – Wyatt Woods and Wyatt McBride, both of Lexington, Okla., nine bass, 35-5
6th: Haughton Fishing Team – Carsen Adcock, Haughton, La., and Colton Arnold, Hope, Ark., nine bass, 35-1
7th: SoCal Jr. Bass Anglers – Brenner Lynn, San Diego, Calif., and Bryce Deheyn, San Marcos, Calif., nine bass, 34-14
8th: Saint Xavier High School – Miles Allen, Louisville, Ky., and Ethan Roths, Prospect, Ky., nine bass, 33-12
9th: Track & Channel Youth – Wesson Vint, Syracuse, Ind., and JJ Gruber, Mishawaka, Ind., nine bass, 32-15
10th: Camdenton High School – Corbin Bailey and Kaden Messina, both of Camdenton, Mo., nine bass, 32-0