Sand Springs High School bass teams place top ten at Ft. Gibson Tournament
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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief
All three Charles Page High School fishing teams traveled to Fort Gibson this weekend for the last leg of the Oklahoma Bass Nation High School Trail. The lake hosted two back-to-back single day tournaments to conclude the regular season.
SUBMITTED: Hilger (left) and Daczewitz (right) are sponsored by True Smile Orthodontics, American Crating Company, Economy Lumber, Cust-o-Fab, Keystone Chevrolet, Air Solutions, Whitey's Pawn, Woody's Bait & Tackle, Danny's Auto Repair, and A1 Rental.
Braden Millican and Ty Steelman placed eighth in the first tournament with four fish weighing a total 9.41 pounds. The largest weighed in at 3.59 pounds. Noah Daczewitz and Hunter Hilger came in at ninth place with two fish weighing 6.39 pounds total. Their largest was 4.52 pounds. Caden Pennington and John Miller tied for last place after failing to land a catch. It was a rough day all around as only five of the thirty teams in the competition hauled in the full five-fish limit. Ten teams didn't land a single fish.
SUBMITTED: Pennington (left) and Miller (right).
The Day Two tournament wasn't much better for the Sandites. Daczewitz and Hilger fared well for the second day in a row, coming in eleventh with three fish totaling 7.21 pounds, but the other two teams had a far rougher time. Miller and Pennington landed one fish at a solid 3.75 pounds for nineteenth place, but Millican and Steelman were unable to replicate their prior day's success. Team Three had several bites, according to Coach Bradley Millican, but three big ones slipped the hook right at the boat.
Daczewitz and Hilger finished the regular season ninth in the state out of 42 teams with 357 points. Central Oklahoma's Keenom and Knoch finished with the top rank at 392 points and will get to travel to the National Championship this summer. The Sand Springs First Team participated in all five tournaments this season and placed fifteenth at Lake Eufala, twelfth at Lake Murray, and twenty-eighth at Lake Texoma.
SUBMITTED: Steelman (left) and Millican (right) are sponsored by Colburn Electric, A&M Baits, Basskwondo, New Wave Plastics, Lews, and Bison Coolers.
Miller and Pennington finished the season sixteenth in the state with 291 points. They missed the Eufala Tournament due to mechanical problems, but placed fifteenth at Murray and a very impressive fourth place at Texoma.
Team Three had a rough time this season as they missed the first three tournaments due to conflicts with baseball season and ultimately placed thirty-sixth. Millican and Steelman had a solid debut in the first Ft. Gibson Tournament, but would have needed to place first both days just to finish in the top 25.
The State Championship Tournament will be held on June 25, 2016 at Lake Keystone and all three teams will be competing.
