Opening day for bass tourney
Yes, there was something fishy going on in high school sports Friday. The Illinois High School Association made history by conducting the first high school bass fishing tournaments.
At 18 sites throughout Illinois, prep anglers attempted to qualify for a state tournament which will be held at downstate Carlyle Lake in two weeks.
Each boat entered in Friday's sectional meets included a maximum of three anglers and one driver, and several schools entered multiple boats.
The winner in a nine-boat field at Busse Woods Reservoir was Wheaton Warrenville South's No. 1 boat featuring senior Kyle Vander Mey, junior Scott Nuzzo and junior Tom Pheiffer. They landed four fish over the 12-inch minimum for a total weight of 10 pounds, 8 ounces, and they also had the largest fish of the day, a 4-pound, 2-ounce bruiser.
In second place was York's boat of juniors Dan Martin, Jeff Grainge and Derrick Hermanser with four fish and a total weight of 6 pounds, 10 ounces.
Taking the third and final state qualifying berth was Conant's No. 1 boat featuring seniors Craig Davies, Matthew Sells and Steve Myszka. They brought two keepers to the weigh-in and totaled 3 pounds, 14 ounces, edging Conant's No. 2 boat for the final state spot by just over a pound.
Sells caught both of his boat's keepers. Davies landed an impressive 23-inch walleye, but since the tournament is for largemouth bass only, it did not count toward his boat's total.
Shabbona: Only three boats entered, so all three advanced to the state tournament. The winning boat was St. Charles North's Derrick Hoffman, Cody Hansen and Ryan Fasbender with one fish at 4 pounds, 1 ounce. The Marmion freshman trio of Brad Warland, Casey Smith and Brad Thielen was next with one fish at 3 pounds, 6 ounces, and Naperville North's Kurt Deichstetter, Connor Stapleton and Cam Barone were third with one fish at 1 pound, 3.5 ounces.
Chain O' Lakes 1: Marian Central's No. 2 boat won with three fish totaling 3.92 pounds. Also advancing to state was Vernon Hills' boat No. 2 with Brandon Wolf and Mike Seal (2 fish, 2.7 pounds) and Streamwood's No. 2 boat of Ryan Pokorney and Matt Stilson (1 fish, 2.66 pounds).
Chain O'Lakes 2: Zion-Benton took both the top qualifying spot (with five fish and a total weight of 14.04 pounds) and the third qualifying spot (with five fish and total weight of 8.06 pounds). In between the Zee-Bees' boats was Grayslake North's No. 2 boat of Cody Speno and Karl Wenkebach, who weighed five fish for a total of 8.36 pounds.
Skokie Lagoons: Maine West juniors Creighton Delgado and Anthony Zourkas and senior James Ramirez took top honors with two fish totaling 3.8 pounds. Taft placed second, also at 3.8, and Regina Dominican took the final spot with one fish at 1.6 pounds.
The largest fish of the day in the state was caught by Jordan Walker of Carrier Mills in the Lake Egypt sectional, where all 10 entrants reached the five-fish limit. Walker's fish weighed 4.76 pounds an Carrier Mills won the sectional with a state-best total weight of 14.40 pounds.