Five Teams Earn Automatic Qualification into 2023 ACA Championship at AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open
SAN ANTONIO, TX (October 13, 2022) – This past weekend, the Association of Collegiate Anglers hosted its second event of the 2022-23 season on the Bass Pro Shops Collegiate Bass Fishing Series. Close to 220 teams competed for two days at Lake Dardanelle in Russellville, AR for the AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open. Each of the Top 5 finishing teams in the overall standings earned automatic qualification into the 2023 BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, SC. In this article, we will take a look at each of the teams that finished in the Top 5 and punched their ticket to the 2023 ACA Championship.
Arkansas Tech University – Mat Higby & John Foster Case
Mat Higby and John Foster Case from Arkansas Tech University won the 2022 AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open with a two-day total of 27.09 pounds. The duo bested second place by almost two and a half pounds to take top honors and win a prize payout valued at nearly $3,000. Case and Higby jumped out to the lead on Day 1 with a five fish limit weighing 15.56 pounds. They then backed that up with 11.53 pounds on the final day to best the elite field of 218 boats.
2023 will mark the first time in which the two Arkansas Tech anglers have qualified to compete in the BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops.
University of Louisiana-Monroe – Connor Nimrod & Dylan Nimrod
Finishing in second place at the AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open were Connor Nimrod and Dylan Nimrod. Representing the University of Louisiana-Monroe, the pair weighed in a two-day total of 24.69 pounds. Connor and Dylan earned a prize payout of close to $2,500. Connor also earned a total of $750 in contingencies by claiming the ACA Logo Contingency and Garmin Tournament Rewards.
Connor has fished in the BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops once in his college fishing career. Fishing with another fellow teammate from Louisiana-Monroe, he finished T-33rd at the 2020 ACA Championship on Pickwick Lake. For Dylan, this will be the first time that he has qualified to compete in the prestigious end-of-year event for the Bass Pro Shops Collegiate Bass Fishing Series.
Carson-Newman University – Ben Cully & Hayden Gaddis
Ben Cully and Hayden Gaddis, from 10th ranked Carson-Newman University, finished in third place at the AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open to earn automatic qualification into the 2023 ACA Championship at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, SC.
Cully and Gaddis have the most experience competing in the BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops of any of the teams that earned automatic qualification this past weekend. Here is a look at the duo’s past history in college fishing’s longest running National Championship event:
-2020 at Pickwick Lake: 55th
-2021 at Lake Murray: 4th
-2022 at Pickwick Lake: 133rd
The 2023 BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops will mark the fourth straight year in which Cully and Gaddis have qualified to compete.
University of Montevallo – Grayson Morris & Trey Dickert
Representing second ranked University of Montevallo, Grayson Morris and Trey Dickert secured one of the team’s three Top 10 finishes at the AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open. Morris and Dickert weighed in a two-day total of 24.26 pounds to claim fourth place. That fourth-place finish netted the pair a prize payout valued at over $1,600. The prize package included a $400 Bass Pro Shops gift card, $200 AFTCO gift card, Engel 80 QT. cooler, Rapala prize package, and a T-H Marine prize package.
For Grayson, this will be the third BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops in which he has competed. Fishing with other teammates from Montevallo, Grayson placed 133rd in 2021 at Lake Murray, and 19th in 2022 at Pickwick Lake.
2023 will mark the final ACA Championship in which Dickert will be eligible to compete. He has competed in the 2019, 2021, and 2022 installments of this year-end Championship. In those events, he finished 35th, 73rd, and T-72nd respectively.
This is the first automatic qualification Montevallo has earned via these criteria.
McKendree University – Lane Stephen & Colsyn Head
Rounding out the Top 5 at the AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open are Lane Stephens and Colsyn Head from third ranked McKendree University. The Top 5 finish earns the pair automatic qualification into the 2023 BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, SC. Combined with the two additional spots earned at the Bass Pro Shops Big Bass Bash presented by Berkley at Kentucky Lake last month, McKendree has now earned three automatic qualifications into the 2023 ACA Championship.
Stephens and Head were paired together in 2022 at Pickwick Lake where they placed 132nd at the prestigious Championship. 2023 will mark the second time Stephens has qualified, and for Head it will be his third trip to the BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops.
