Virtual Championship 2006: Bracket 19
Opening round – Bosley vs. Shaw
Virtual Championship 2006
Opening round – Bracket 19: Bosley vs. Shaw
Another exciting season of tour-level pro bass fishing drew to a close in record-smashing fashion on Lake Champlain last month, leaving only the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship on the horizon before 2006 is etched forever in the history books. FLWOutdoors.com will once again host its own “virtual championship” – a featured daily poll where readers can make their own picks and weigh in on who they think will be crowned champion during the Aug. 2-5 year-ending event on Logan Martin Lake in Birmingham, Ala.
In the days leading up to the championship, FLWOutdoors.com will ask readers to vote on who they think will advance in each of the daily bracket challenges (polls are located on the right-hand side of the FLW Outdoors and FLW Tour home pages). After each day’s votes are tabulated, the virtual championship bracket will be immediately updated to reflect the readers’ choices.
Will fishing fans correctly forecast the winner of this year’s championship? Vote each day to support your favorite qualified angler and to learn more about the 48 pros who will actually compete on Logan Martin Lake for a top prize of $500,000.
Today’s featured bracket matchup: Brennan Bosley (No. 19) vs. Alvin Shaw (No. 30)
Brennan Bosley – No.19 seed: The 2006 season may be a defining year for this young Benton, Ark., angler’s career. Brennan Bosley’s back-to-back top-10s at lakes Murray and Pickwick catapulted him to the top of the points standings and his first FLW Tour Championship appearance. On Lake Murray, the shallow-water specialist had three consecutive limits weighing well over the magical 20-pound mark – the heaviest being 26 pounds, 5 ounces – securing a second-place finish in the points race behind Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year Anthony Gagliardi. He followed up with a solid seventh-place performance at Pickwick and remained fairly consistent at the other tour stops. This is a breakout year for Bosley, a Wet Ones pro, and a good performance at Logan Martin will only add to his outstanding 2006 season.
Alvin Shaw – No. 30 seed: Every professional angler dreams of making the FLW Tour Championship. Shaw makes it happen year after year. Making his 10th appearance, the Kellogg’s pro knows what it takes to win against the world’s best anglers. His first tour-level victory came last year on Alabama’s Wheeler Lake, capping off three straight top-10 finishes, which included a sixth-place finish on the Ouachita River followed by a seventh-place performance during the Wal-Mart Open on Beaver Lake. He has 12 top-10s to his credit with three of those coming during the 1996, 1999 and 2003 FLW Tour Championships. During the 2002 championship, he defeated Clark Wendlandt and Tracy Adams in head-to-head competition to make the finals, which included an all-star lineup consisting of Rick Clunn, Dion Hibdon and Takahiro Omori. Shaw can handle championship-level pressure; after all, it’s just another day at the office for the North Carolina pro.
Virtual Championship 2006 (click for complete details and poll results)
Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship 2006 (click for more information)
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Browne vs. Kilby
Chapman vs. Colson
Fukae vs. Jones
Hawkes vs. Yelas
Klinger vs. Kennedy
Rojas vs. Bolton
Le vs. Lefebre
Monsoor vs. Clausen
Pirch vs. Ehrler
Nixon vs. Cochran
Bolivar vs. Yamamoto
Bennett vs. Hibdon
Martin vs. Berry
Scheide vs. Strader
Moynagh vs. Stricker
Herren vs. Namiki
Gagliardi vs. Monroe