UF won another national championship Saturday, taking home first place and $100,000 in cash and prizes from the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship.
Jake Gipson and Matthew Wercinski, who made up one of the two UF teams competing in the tournament, caught 15 fish weighing a total of 41 pounds and 8 ounces. Their catch outweighed the second-place team, Louisiana State University at Shreveport, by nearly 5 pounds.
Dennis Croyle and Travis Gates, the other UF team, placed ninth in the championship.
For the first two days of the three-day tournament, Gipson said they were able to get most of the fish they needed before 9 a.m.
“We were really fortunate to get the fish early,” he said.
But before 1 p.m. on the final day, Gipson said he and Wercinski were a bit worried because they hadn’t had any bites. Then Gipson caught a fish close to four pounds ,and they were back on track to claim the title of National Champions.
Of the $100,000 in prizes, $25,000 will go to the university, and $50,000 will go to UF’s bass-fishing club.
“It’s awesome to go out on top and that it was our last college event,” Gipson said.
