GROVE, Okla. – The Toyota Series Championship Presented by Phoenix Boats on Grand Lake is mostly about the Toyota Series, but it’s the stage where a few other key points are finalized. The top-finisher from the International Division will qualify for REDCREST, and, similarly, University of Montevallo teammates Brody Robison and Peyton Sorrow will be fishing off against each other to see who represents the college ranks in REDCREST this spring at Table Rock.
Since REDCREST qualification was introduced as a bonus to winning the Abu Garcia College Fishing National Championship, it has often not taken much to move on. In 2023, Dalton Head finished 83rd at the Toyota Series Championship to qualify for REDCREST – which happened to be on Lay Lake, where he nearly made the final day. In 2024 on Wheeler Lake, Braylon Eggerding of Adrian College finished 151st to qualify for the championship. This year, the Montevallo boys have their sights set a lot higher, and they’re determined to show out for the college ranks.
Montevallo is taking a tight-knit approach
Winning Tackle Warehouse School of the Year for the fourth time in five years plus the National Championship (and with an alum winning the Bassmaster Classic), there’s no doubt that Montevallo is the team to beat these days. They’re also a very tight-knit team with a culture set by head coach William Crawford.
“Our guys have bought in to this process that we’ve laid out over the last four or five years,” Crawford said. “It’s just a special group to be around, and it’s fun to sit back and watch them perform.”
Robinson, Sorrow and teammate Nick Dumke also qualified for the Toyota Series Championship, and the trio are hunting for a high finish at Grand.
“We’re staying together – me, Brody and Nick,” said Sorrow. “We’ve talked about it as a trio. We’re going to work together, just like we did when Nick was still in school, and how me and Brody work together anyways. We’re going to do it just like we’d normally do, and whoever catches them is going to get that spot. Really, what we’re more worried about is we want all three of us to get out of there with a really good finish and a good check, and whoever is higher will get the REDCREST spot.”
Robison is right on the same track.
“At the end of the day, we could all really use a check,” he said. “Whatever way it’s supposed to work out, it’s supposed to work out. I think we’re better off working as a team and trying to finish the highest in the tournament possible as a group instead of only worrying about a REDCREST qualification. Yes, that is a huge deal, but I won’t want it to get in the way of how we operate and the usual groove we’re in.”
Sorrow has very high hopes for the event, though he recognizes that the level of competition is strong.
“We really want to do good in the tournament – one of us will be able to go to REDCREST, but we’re going to work together as if that wasn’t on the line,” he said. “The ultimate goal – obviously, chances are slim – but we’d like to go one, two and three.”
Sorrow is ready to rock on new water
Hailing from Abbeville, S.C., Sorrow is a senior majoring in business marketing with a focus on catching bass. Right now, he’s doing homework and itching to dump the boat in for official practice.
“I haven’t been to Grand, but I feel like I have with as much research as I’ve been doing,” he said. “As much map study and all the details I’ve been looking at, I feel like I’ve been out there.”
While Robison also qualified out of the Central Division, Sorrow will be fishing at the Toyota Series level for the first time.
“What I’ve thought about the most is getting my mind in the right area to go have fun and enjoy the experience, rather than to be worried about having to finish higher than Brody,” he said. “I’m going to have fun and enjoy the experience and let the cards fall. But, I think it would be really, really cool to fish REDCREST. That’s an opportunity, and getting the experience at that tournament and getting your foot in the door is what I’d love to be a part of.”
Though recent history shows that the National Champions don’t tend to excel in the Toyota Series Championship, there’s a ton of evidence that if you’re good in college, you can hang anywhere these days. The Nutt brothers, Banks Shaw, Easton Fothergill and others prove it almost weekly. Sorrow knows that just because he didn’t qualify via a conventional route, he’s not out of place.
“There’s so much talent, and the intensity is insane at a college tournament,” said Sorrow. “Everybody is hungry, and everybody wants to win. I feel like the competition jumps up a lot. On the next level, you have guys that have been doing it for years, that have an insane amount of experience, but college tournaments are insane, the guys are so hungry.”
Robison also going in with limited experience
While the field as a whole contains years and years of Grand Lake knowledge, Robison and Sorrow are both going in with a blank slate.
“It’s going to be totally new for me,” Robison said. “Grand is borderline in the Ozarks, but I’ve been to every other Ozark lake, just about. Table Rock, Norfork, Lake of the. Ozarks – I thoroughly enjoyed fishing all those lakes. Doing my research, Grand doesn’t seem too far off pace from all those lakes.”
Robison fished the Central Division this year and finished 11th, making the Top 25 twice. So, the MBA candidate is perhaps a little better off statistically. Heading into the event, he’s got a killer mindset.
“I’m really looking forward to breaking it down,” said Robison. “From my research, it seems like the style of place where the majority of the field is going to have the same ideas, and it typically gets won when someone has a breakthrough. Like, they figure something out and take it one step further than the majority of the field. I like that type of tournament; it seems like a super mental game, and I like those.
“Big fish are possible in the lake. The weights aren’t always the best, but at times there are extremely good weights,” he added. “I love knowing they’re there to fish for, but it’s going to take some high-IQ moves to figure them out.”
On the verge of wrapping up school and in the midst of deciding where to fish in the years to come, Robison knows that this event is a huge opportunity. If he can seize the moment, it could go a long way.
“I’m looking forward to competing against this group of guys again,” he said. “There’s higher levels in bass fishing, but some of the biggest names and the strongest names in the upcoming class and the highest level compete in this tournament. I think that’s super cool. If I were to do well in this tournament, that’s a huge showing for myself. It’s a cool opportunity to compete with such a caliber of anglers.
“This is a turning point tournament in the beginning of my career,” Robison said. “This could do so much. I’m not letting that pressure get to me, but it’s a driving factor. It fires me up.”