HS: Midwest Open weigh-in

It’s time for the weigh-in at the Costa Bassmaster High School Midwest Open presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods. Here, a B.A.S.S. official appears to be making shadow puppets on this man’s shirt, but he’s really explaining to volunteers how they can assist with the busy backstage process behind each B.A.S.S. tournament.

Volunteers are a huge part of the B.A.S.S. community. Pictured from left are Kyle Matthews, Melissa Eagan, Chaz Eagan, and Kenzie Beeler who drove down from Lee Summit, Missouri to lend a hand.

Boats begin to arrive at the Lake of the Ozarks State Park in Osage Beach for the high school weigh-in.

The first team to the scales is Jacob Nagle and Ethan Pudil of Lakeville (Minn.) High School.

The second team to present fish comes from nearby Cassville (Mo.) High. Gavin White lugs a bag of four bass into the holding tank while teammate Riley Fletcher watches. Appears to be a heavy bag!

And it is, thanks to this big bass that weighs 5 pounds, 1 ounce.

Other teams begin to take their places at the tanks.

And the line grows.

Meanwhile, tournament director Hank Weldon takes the stage to welcome the crowd.

And the anglers are eager to know who’s going to win this thing.

Meanwhile, this young fishing fan is busy figuring out how to get his new Phoenix hat to fit just right.

There you go. He got it!

B.A.S.S. official Jon Stewart provides his powerful rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.

And all the fishing fans stop to remember our country, the freedoms we enjoy, and those who paid the ultimate price for them.

It’s a special moment at every single event that B.A.S.S. puts on around the U.S.A.

Back to the fishing, and there’s the Lakeville boys who only caught one bass on Sunday. It weighed 1-9.

And there’s Fletcher and White with four fine bass. They finished fifth overall with 13-13.

Here’s Reese Jones and Dalton Johnson of Wisconsin. They placed 15th with 9-4.

And Trey Schroeder and Grant Nisbet of Lindbergh (Mo.) High who placed 20th with 7-9.

Dylan and Jake Minch placed 17th with 8-12. They fish for Stevens Point (Wisc.) High School.

Tyler Christy and Scott Springer of Illinois re all smiles as they hold up four fish that weighed 12-9. That total earned them seventh place overall.

Nehemiah Glenn and Joseph Gorman of the Lakeville (Minn.) High team placed seventh with 13-2 total. They were one of seven teams that caught a limit on Sunday.

Brad Boswell and Zack Conrad of Center Grove (Ind.) High placed 12th with 10-12.

Daniel Neubaum and Josh Sokol finished 13th with a total of 10-4. They fish for Carl Sandburg High in Illinois.

Doug Guidorzi and William Curtright of the Summit (Mo.) Falcons Fishing Club placed eighth with 12-4.

Brian Linder and Nathan Thompson of Eagan (Minn.) High weighed 13-13 which at the time was good for a tie with Fletcher and White. The Minnesota boys took the hot seat because they caught five bass, while Fletcher and White had to vacate the spot because they only caught four.

And there are Linder and Thompson in the hot seat.

Tyler Hamburger fished alone on Sunday, but he brought the biggest bass to the scales. The young angler from the Northeastern Oklahoma High School Bass Club caught this 6-2 beauty and was eager to show it to the crowd.

Chris Thompson and Matt Reimer hold some nice bass. They placed 16th with 8-15.

And here are some beauties from the Park Hill South (Mo.) Elite Anglers team of Bryce Soske and Jacob Lang. They finished 10th with 12-2.

Brooks and Will Tyser are the first high school team from Wyoming to enter a Bassmaster High School event. They only caught one fish that weighed 2-15, but the High Plains Bass Club has set roots out west that will bear fruit in coming tournaments, for sure.

Justin Roberts and A.J. Seghers of the Marion (Ill.) High team placed ninth with 12-2.

And here comes the haul of the day courtesy of Trevor Whisenant and Brett Lasley from the Kickback High School Bass Club in Kansas. They weighed five bass that totaled 16-8 pounds.

And they promptly took their places in the hottest of seats.

And right behind them come teammates Zach Vielhauer and Remington Wagner who wound up finishing second with five bass weighing 14-7.

The Texas tandem of Joseph Bruener and Hunter Curry talk with Hank Weldon after weighing five bass that totaled 11-14.

Colton Haney and Noah Lindus of Wisconsin’s BW Bassers placed 18th overall with 8-3.

Weldon goes over to the leaders to turn the pressure up just a little bit. Turns out the there’s one more team to weigh-in, and they have five bass in their bag, as well.

So he brings Whisenant and Lasley over to the scales to take a peek at what’s to come. Whisenant focuses intently on the screen as the last bag hits the scales.

But the 14-1 limit weighed by Tyler Lubbat and Nolan Siara of the Buffalo Grove (Ill.) Bass Fishing Club is not enough to bump the leaders from atop the board.

And there they are, the champions of the Costa Bassmaseter High School Midwest Open presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods! Pictured, from left, are Trevor Whisenant, his dad and boat captain Chris Whisenant, and Brett Lasley.

And despite being only freshmen in high school, they each were presented with $10,000 four-year scholarships to McKendree University in Illinois. Should they choose to compete on the school’s bass fishing team in college, both boys would receive $2,500 in scholarship money in four consecutive years. They also won $1,000 for the Kickback High School Bass Fishing Team with their win.

Here’s the second place team, from left, Remington Wagner, boat captain Sheldon Roggee, and Zach Vielhauer. They won $500 for the Kickback High School Bass Fishing team back in Kansas.

And third-place honors went to Nolan Siera and Tyler Lubbat of Buffalo Grove (Ill.) Captain Cris Lubbat is at center. The team took home $400 for their school.