Wheeler Advances to Championship Round, Knockout Round Set

Jacob Wheeler finished first in Group B's Qualifying Round, sending him straight to Wednesday's Championship Round. Photo by Garrick Dixon

February 10, 2020 • Tyler Brinks • Bass Pro Tour

EUFAULA, Ala. – Just like yesterday, there was some suspense both at the top of the leaderboard and around the 20th-place position during the Qualifying Round 4 at the B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One Presented by Power-Pole on Lake Eufaula.

The battle around the 20th-place mark went down to the wire with two clutch catches in the final 20 minutes that pushed two anglers out and two anglers safely inside. It was also extremely close for those just below 20th-place finisher Jesse Wiggins, with four anglers 1 pound, 3 ounces or less behind Wiggins.

While the late-day takeover for first place never happened, it was close. Jacob Wheeler was the winner for Group B and will skip the Knockout Round, heading straight to the Championship Round after narrowly escaping with the lead.

Wheeler entered the day with a nearly 10-pound lead over his closest competitor, but it was whittled down to just eight-ounces when time expired.

Wheeler Keeps Grip on First Place

Going into the day, Wheeler was cruising and had a nice cushion over second-place angler Wesley Strader. At 10:30 a.m., he had a three-fish catch for 9-1 and looked like he was ready to take it easy and start looking for new areas.

But that was all he was able to catch today, and Randall Tharp made it interesting, getting closer and closer. In the end, Wheeler was able to hold him off and will advance.

“That was unreal. I fished hard all day, and that was all I could catch,” Wheeler said on the MLF NOW! live stream as time expired. “Man, that was stressful. I’m sure that was fun to watch, but it is not fun to be on this side of it.”

Tharp’s Rally Falls Short

Tharp started the day in third place and over 14 pounds behind Wheeler. His first two periods were not spectacular, with one fish in each frame.

But around the beginning of Period 3, he started catching fish, and that flurry changed his focus for the day.

“I wasn’t planning on exerting myself much today but ended up fishing pretty hard in Period 3,” Tharp said. “For about an hour, I was one bite away from winning the round.”

Instead of getting a day off and an automatic berth to the Championship Round, Tharp will head back to Lake Eufaula for tomorrow’s Knockout Round.

“I have enough history here that I would rather have the day off, but that day of fishing tomorrow could be an asset to stay on top of what the fish are doing,” Tharp believes. “I’m just thankful I put a little heat on Wheeler, that last hour had to be a little nerve-wracking for him.”

Randall Tharp finished Group B’s final Qualifying Day in second place. Photo by Garrick Dixon

Moving Day

SCORETRACKER® was in a constant flux today, and many anglers moved in and out, even in the closing minutes.

One of the biggest jumps was from reigning Points Champion Edwin Evers, who landed a 6-10 with less than 20 minutes left to make his move inside of the Top 20. He finished the day in 19th after catching five bass for 20-6. He landed just one scorable bass on Saturday’s opening round.

Brett Hite started the day in 23rd and was another angler who scored late to help his cause, with a 3-2 that gave him a berth into the Knockout Round after finishing 17th.

Mike Iaconelli was one of the biggest stories of the day, and after catching zero bass during Saturday’s Qualifying Round, he was able to find five bass for an impressive 23-03 and move up to 18th place.

Dave Lefebre (14th to 25th), Mark Davis (12th to 22nd), Cody Meyer (19th to 29th), Jonathon VanDam (20th to 36th), all fell out of the Top 20. These four were replaced by Iaconelli, Evers, Hite, and Takahiro Omori (24th to 16th).

Looking Ahead

The top anglers from both Group A and B will compete on Lake Eufaula in the Knockout Round where they will vie for eight spots to join Bryan Thrift and Jacob Wheeler in Wednesday’s Championship Round. The weather forecast for tomorrow calls for a high of 76 degrees with scattered thunderstorms.

Daily Winners

The Berkley Big Bass of the day was a 7-2 largemouth caught by Ish Monroe.
The Phoenix Boats Daily Leader award went to Ott DeFoe and his eight bass for 25-07.

How, When, Where to Watch

Watch all three periods of competition during the MLF NOW! live stream beginning at 7:45 a.m CST on February 7-12, 2020. Watch for FREE on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MLF app, or the MyOutdoorTV app.

The General Tire Takeout begins at approximately 4 p.m. CST after each day of competition.