DAVIDSON, N.C. – In a come from behind victory the North Carolina State University team of Ben Dziwulski of Woodbine, Md., and Kevin Beverley of Fuquay Varina, N.C., shocked the rest of today’s field with six bass weighing 9 pounds, 6 ounces to win the National Guard FLW College Fishing Northern Division Regional championship on Lake Norman by nearly 2 pounds with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 24-10. For their efforts, the team won a Ranger 177TR with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Yamaha outboard wrapped in school colors and $25,000 for the school they represent.
“This is a huge surprise,” said Beverley a sophomore in Civil Engineering. “I struggled the first two days and it seemed I finally made all the right decisions today, I was fishing my gut.”
“It was all Kevin today,” said Dziwulski a freshman in Business Marketing. “We had opportunities the first two days, but let them get away. Today we were finally able to capitalize on them; I listened to Kevin all day. We fished in our secret spot which was an old rock quarry for most of the day, but then as we were heading back Kevin said to stop in this area near some shoals that was in the middle of nowhere and I caught my last fish. We only caught six fish today and it took us all day to do it.”
Keeping secrets right to the end both Dziwulski and Beverley were very hesitant to give up their “fish bowl” as they referred to their secret spot which turned out to be an old rock quarry in Knox Creek. The team spent over 50 hours of practice time in the area which had a 19-foot ledge with a 55-foot drop.
The bait? A Gary Yamamoto Shad Shaped Worm. According to the team from NC State they caught 95% of their fish using the “Gary”.
“I knew I didn’t want to fish docks and I knew I didn’t want to run the lake, if your baits not in the water, you’re not catching fish,” said Dziwulski. “We needed to find something different. I knew the fish were there (in the quarry), I just needed to figure out how to catch them.”
Keeping the race close right up to the very end, the second place Virginia Tech team of Charlie Machek and Scott Wiley both of Midlothian, Va., caught their last fish with just 25 minutes left in the tournament finishing with 17 bass weighing 22-11 and earning $25,000.
“It was an exciting day,” said Wiley. “We caught our first two fish with our first two casts this morning and we have been racing ever since. We are just so excited to be here and to know that we are going to be in the National Championship is just awesome.”
All five of the top place finishers in the Northern Regional have earned a spot in the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship in Knoxville, Tenn., April 10-12, 2010.
Rounding out the top five teams are Hampden-Sydney College – Charles Parrish of New Port News, Va., and Allen Luck of Richmond, Va., (14 bass, 21-10, $11,000); Virginia Tech – Andrew Blevins of Pulaski, Va., and Carson Rejzer of Hampton, Va., (14 bass, 21-3, $8000); and Fairmont State University – Wil Dieffenbauch of Hundred, W.Va., and Brent Dodrill of Fairmont, W.Va., (12 bass, 18-6, $6000).
FLW Outdoors announced the College Fishing trail in May 2008. The entire schedule, which is organized around the five Stren Series Divisions, can be found by visiting CollegeFishing.com along with rules, requirements and information on how to create a bass club.
Full-time students enrolled in four year colleges or universities are eligible to participate in the events. Schools can send two-person teams to each of the four qualifying events in their division, with each event limited to a maximum of 40 teams. Each team has the opportunity to win $10,000 for first and $2,000 through fifth place. Prize money is split evenly between the winning team’s club and the school they represent. The tournaments are free to enter, boats and drivers are provided and all collegiate teams receive a travel allowance. The top five teams in each qualifying event advance to one of five televised three-day National Guard FLW College Fishing Regional Championships.
The National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship is a three-day televised event hosting the top five teams from each regional, 25 total teams. Teams will be provided shirts and wrapped Ranger boats towed by Chevy trucks for this competition. The purse for the championship ranges from $25,000 cash and a Ranger 177TR with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Yamaha outboard wrapped in school colors for the winning club and $50,000 for the school they represent to $15,000 for fifth, split between the club and school.
The winning team will be declared the National Guard FLW Collegiate National Champion and will qualify for the Forrest Wood Cup presented by BP and Castrol in 2010. The winners will also receive use of a wrapped boat and Chevy truck for the Forrest Wood Cup.
Coverage of the National Guard FLW College Fishing Northern Division Regional event on Lake Norman will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on VERSUS, the network which brings anglers the best fishing programming on television featuring the most-trusted authorities on the water. The Emmy-nominated “FLW Outdoors,” will air Dec. 6 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. ET. “FLW Outdoors,” hosted by Jason Harper, is broadcast to approximately 500 million households worldwide, including internationally through agreements with WFN (World Fishing Network) and Matchroom Sport to such countries as Canada, Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world.
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. FLW Outdoors also has taken fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.