Fifth-place Christopher Newport's Ryan Ingalls and Derek Berhalter caught their last keeper around 2 p.m. Photo by David A. Brown. Anglers: Ryan Ingalls, Derek Berhalter.

February 13, 2012 • Gary Mortenson • Abu Garcia College Fishing

(Editor’s note: Leading up to the 2012 National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship – slated for April 13-15 on Lake Murray in Columbia, S.C. – CollegeFishing.com will publish weekly, in-depth features stories of each of the 25 national championship team qualifiers. At stake in the tournament is a first-place prize package worth $100,000 as well as a chance for the winning team to compete in the 2012 Forrest Wood Cup.)

Name: Derek Berhalter (pictured on left)

Class: Senior

Major: Environmental Science

Hometown: Warsaw Va.

Other interests: Golf, baseball and saltwater fishing.

Name: Ryan Ingalls (pictured on right)

Class: Alumni

Major: Marketing

Hometown: Fairfax, Va.

Other interests: Lacrosse and paintball; and I’m a huge Washington Capitals hockey fan as well.

Club Web site: freeteams.net/cnufishing/

Q&A

CollegeFishing.com: How were you introduced to fishing?

Berhalter: My dad introduced me to the sport when I was young.

Ingalls: My grandfather took me fishing as a kid. But it was my teammate from last year, Joe Wilkerson, who got me seriously into bass fishing. FLW College Fishing showed me what tournament fishing was all about and I absolutely love it now!

CollegeFishing.com: What style/method of fishing are you most comfortable with?

Berhalter: I’m most comfortable fishing around grass.

Ingalls: I’m most comfortable power fishing and using techniques that have anything to do with fishing grass.

CollegeFishing.com: What did it feel like to qualify for the 2011 FLW College Fishing National Championship? How do you plan to prepare for the big event?

Berhalter: I feel honored just to have qualified for the event. In order to prepare, Ryan will be living down there three weeks prior to off-limits cutoff and I will try to find time outside of class to pre-fish with him.

Ingalls: It was awesome! It was a big relief to make it back to the championship for the second straight year and have another chance at winning the title. By qualifying, it demonstrated that we had the skills necessary to make more than just a one-time appearance. I would like nothing more than to do as well as last year, or even improve upon our 5th-place finish. We put in over 9,000 miles on the road in a month last year to prepare for Kentucky Lake. I recently graduated, and since I do not have a “big boy” job yet, I will be spending quite a lot of time on Lake Murray.

CollegeFishing.com: Tell us something interesting about yourself that most people wouldn’t know.

Berhalter: N/A.

Ingalls: I was born in Las Vegas and lived there for three years. And not many people can say that!