Lake Okeechobee Photo Gallery
OKEECHOBEE, Fla. – The High Point University Intercollegiate Club Sports bass fishing team completed its first of three Bassmaster College Series events of the season at Lake Okeechobee on Thursday afternoon.
The Panthers had two teams place in the two-day event, which took place on January 28-29th, including
Kole Costello and
Trey Horton (143rd) and
Ryan Dujmovits and
Grant Anthony (158th) of the 220 total teams that were participating.
The pairing of Costello and Horton reeled in three fish that totaled 5 lbs., 6 oz. Meanwhile, Dujmovits and Anthony had two catches that tallied 3 lbs., 5 oz. The Panthers had two pairings (
John Bagdasarian /
Zachary Steinman) and (
Cole Mitchell /
Leo Goldman) who competed but were unsuccessful in landing a fish.
"None of the team caught fish today," said head coach
Bill Frazier. "That is not unusual because if you don't do well on day one and have to catch up, your choices are go conservative and catch anything, in which case you won't qualify, or swing for the fences and go for broke. I am proud of them they went for broke and did not give up and that shows a lot of heart."
Frazier and his squad have two more opportunities to compete in the Bassmaster College Series in 2026, including the next event at the Santee Cooper Lakes (April 8-9), which is set to take place in Clarendon County, S.C. The final Bassmaster College Series event of the season will take place at the James River in Richmond, Va., on May 29-30.
"Cole has fished the BASSMasters and is a talented focused fisherman," said Frazier. "Ryan is a full rookie but has proven himself in the club as very capable including two angler of the year titles in the club."
