Americana Outdoors E-Magazine - July 2018 Edition

To earn a year long title like the Cabela’s School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia, it takes a true team effort. Coach Mason says the team has had their sites set on this title since the fall, “We sat down with our guys at the first of fall, when they got there, and we said ok guys we’re setting our sites on school of the year. To me, this is the most prestigious award that any college team or program can win.” Through- out a full school year, a variety of circumstances can occur that cause people to miss tournaments, boat problems can occur, and even weather can play a factor. For a team to pull out the title, everything must go right with a little bit of luck mixed in. Bethel University’s team produced for them from top to bottom for the full year. “We’ve stayed consistent and we’ve done it with a lot of anglers, not just one or two. So our program is really deep and we’ve got a lot of really good anglers,” says Coach Mason.

At the first ACA event of the year, the Texas Lunker Challenge presented by Mossy Oak Elements, Bethel University began their charge for first place overall. Dax Ewart and Tyler Black were the top two finishers for Bethel University in this big bass format event. Ewart finished 10th place overall with 6.01 pounds, and Black claimed 20th with 4.60 pounds. Their efforts at Sam Rayburn Res- ervoir earned the school a total of 860 points. Bethel University left southeast Texas with the lead in the Cabela’s School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia, and the team never looked back. In Kentucky at the Cabela’s Collegiate Big Bass Bash presented by Berkley, Bethel added to their lead even more. This stop offered another opportunity for double points, and the hometown team capitalized on this chance. Brian Pahl weighed in a 9.22 pound fish to win Day One Session Four, and took the overall top spot for the event. Fellow teammate Ricky Harris also brought in a fish over the seven pound mark. Weighing in with 7.42 pounds, Harris claimed fifth place overall. Up to this point in the season, this was by far the most impressive performance by any one team in a given event. Bethel University left Paris, TN with 980 more points to go towards their yearly total. At this point, their lead stretched to more than 600 points over the nearest competitor. Bethel University’s success was not secluded to just ACA events. Fishing other major national trails, teams representing Bethel fin- ished in the top five at seven of the 12 other tournaments they fished. At the championship events for both FLW and B.A.S.S col- lege tournament series, Bethel teams finished third and second respectively. Of the seven top five finishes, the school managed to win one of those events. At Lake Seminole back in February, Cole Floyd and Carter McNeil won an FLW Southeastern Regional. As the year progressed, Bethel’s dominance became aparent as all

Dax Ewart holds up his 6.01 pound fish and walked away with 10th Place at the 2018 Texas Lunker Challenge present- ed by Mossy Oak Elements.

Brian Pahl stands tall with his 9.22 bass to win the 2018 Cabela’s Big Bass Bash presented by Berkley.