Five Anglers Automatically Qualify for 2021 Championship Thanks to Top Five Finish at Bass Pro Shops Big Bass Bash presented by Berkley
San Antonio, TX (March 23, 2021) – The 2021 Bass Pro Shops Big Bass Bash presented by Berkley on Kentucky Lake contested March 13-14 marked the second opportunity for the top collegiate anglers in the nation to secure automatic qualification into the 2021 BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops. Each of the Top 5 anglers in the final overall standings at the first major ACA event of 2021 secured a spot in the upcoming Championship set to be contested on Lake Murray in South Carolina May 26-27.
Here are the five qualifying anglers:
- Cole Dodson – University of Montevallo
- Aidan Kolb – Murray State University
- Samuel Moll – Murray State University
- Nate Pardo – Indiana University
- Jacob Oliver – Arkansas State University
Each of these five anglers will have the opportunity to represent their respective schools at the 2021 BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops. The individual angler will be allowed to select the teammate from their school that will register and compete with them during the Championship. All Championship qualifications earned via this method are in addition to the other spots earned by their school via the Championship qualification criteria.
Cole Dodson from number one ranked University of Montevallo secures a spot in the 2021 Championship by finishing in 1st place at the 2021 Bass Pro Shops Big Bass Bash presented by Berkley. The University of Montevallo has been in the number one spot for the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia for over five months now. Provided that Montevallo remains in the Top 25 of the School of the Year standings for the remainder of the season, this automatic qualification spot earned by Dodson guarantees the current number one team a minimum of five boats that will compete in the 2021 Championship.
Aidan Kolb from the current number three ranked team in the nation, Murray State University, earns a spot in the 2021 Championship following a second-place finish at Kentucky Lake two weeks ago. Kolb brought in a largemouth bass weighing 5.41 pounds during Day 2 Session 3 presented by Berkley to claim the session victory and second place overall for the event. The 2021 Championship will mark the first time that Kolb has qualified for college fishing’s longest-running National Championship tournament.
Kolb’s teammate, and fishing partner at the 2021 Bass Pro Shops Big Bass Bash presented by Berkley, Samuel Moll finished in 3rd place overall at the Kentucky Lake event to claim one of the five automatic qualification spots for the 2021 BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops on Lake Murray in South Caroline. Moll, a freshman at Murray State, will be competing in the Championship for the first time in 2021. Murray State earned an additional qualification spot thanks to a Top 5 finish at the AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open back in the fall. Combine that with these two new automatic bids and a current Top 25 ranking in the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia, Murray currently qualifies to send seven teams to the 2021 Championship.
Nate Pardo from Indiana University qualifies to compete in the 2021 Championship following a fourth-place finish at Kentucky Lake. Pardo won Day 1 Session 1 presented by Engel Coolers with a largemouth bass weighing 5.25 pounds. Pardo and a fellow IU bass fishing team member will represent their school at the Championship this coming May.
The final automatic qualification spot awarded from this event goes to Jacob Oliver from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, AR. Oliver won Day 2 Session 1 presented by Abu Garcia with 5.16 pounds. Along with a spot in the 2021 BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops, Oliver won a $300 Bass Pro Shops gift card, Abu Garcia Ike casting rod, and a T-H Marine prize package.
Registration for the 2021 BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops is currently open and will close on Friday, May 7th. To find out exactly how many boats your school has qualified to compete in the 2021 Championship, follow this link, scroll down, then click on “Qualification Calculator.” Five more automatic qualification spots will be awarded at the upcoming Pickwick Slam in April.
