Cook, Zobel win Illinois championship

Sean Cook and Tommy Zobel won the 2015 Illinois B.A.S.S. Nation High School Championship, June 14, on Lake Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Sean Cook and Tommy Zobel won the 2015 Illinois B.A.S.S. Nation High School Championship, June 14, on Lake Springfield.

The teammates won with 13.82 pounds in the one-day tournament. Their win qualified them to compete in the 2015 Costa Bassmaster High School National Championship presented by TNT Fireworks, July 22-25, on Kentucky Lake in Tennessee.

The second-place team of Nick Martins and Sam Milazzo, who ended with 13.1 pounds, also qualified for the national championship.

“There was a threat of rain all day as the anglers took off shortly after sunrise,” said Frank Labanowski, youth director for the Illinois B.A.S.S. Nation. “Not much was heard about the fish being caught, but Lake Springfield has never let us down before.”

The biggest bass of the day was a 4.58-pounder caught by Luke Brozovich and Canyon Kenny.

Brozovich and Kenny qualified for the championship, too, through the Illinois B.A.S.S. Nation series, as did the following other three Illinois teams: Dailus Richardson and Trevor McKinney, Jacob Doster and Zachary Peterson, and Tyler Lubbat and Hunter Lubbat.

Learn more about the Illinois B.A.S.S. Nation High School Team Series here.