Photo: Chayse Freeman, left, and Ryan Shields
HANCEVILLE – Wallace State anglers Ryan Shields and Chayse Freeman finished 17th among 82 teams at the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship in Campbellsville, Kentucky over the weekend.
Wallace State’s duo reeled in a two-day total weighing 13 pounds, 12 ounces. They were 2 pounds, 4 ounces away from advancing to the third day of competition on the Green River Lake.
Wallace State placed better than teams from Auburn, Alabama, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Ohio State, Illinois and Arkansas, and among others. Kansas State’s Kyle Alsop and Taylor Bivins finished first and a Bethel University (Tennessee) team was runner-up.
Shields and Freeman, making the third national championship appearance for Wallace State’s BASS fishing club in four years, set the college’s second-best mark at the national event, coming in two spots behind the 15th-place finish of Ethan Flack and Logan Shaddix in 2013. Shields and Freeman qualified for the national event in February after finishing 21st overall at the Carhartt College Southern Regional at Lake Martin in Alexander City.
“It’s been great to represent Wallace State and to go out there and compete on a high level for the college. Chayse and I love wearing our Wallace State jerseys and doing one of the things we enjoy the most,” said Shields, a Hazel Green graduate. “We fared well in two tournaments, and we’ll be ready to go again next year.”
Shields is a sophomore in welding, while Freeman, a Cullman graduate, is enrolled in Wallace State’s Engineering Technology program.
Wallace State’s BASS club is sponsored by Joe Hendrix, the college’s Industrial Electronics Department Head.
Any current or incoming Wallace State student who is interested in joining the club, can contact Hendrix at 256-352-8154 or at joe.hendrix@wallacestate.edu. Club membership is open to all Wallace State students, but tournament participants must be full-time Wallace State students in order to compete.
The club will conduct an organizational meeting early in the fall semester.
For more information about Wallace State, visit www.wallacestate.edu.
