University of Florida Students Win Second Consecutive Bass Title

The University of Florida has claimed yet another back-to-back pair of college national championships...in bass fishing.

From this story in the Murray (Ken.) Ledger:
Where do college students who live in Florida go for spring break? If they’re Jake Gipson and Matthew Wercinski, they come to Murray. The pair of Florida bass anglers spent their spring break several weeks ago running Kentucky Lake over and over, and occasionally doing some fishing. The conditions were — in Gipson’s words — miserable. But while most of their peers were soaking up the sun, they were getting a leg up on the competition they would face this past week at the FLW College Fishing National Championship. It paid off for Gipson and Wercinski, who won their second consecutive title Saturday with a five-bass limit totaling 14 pounds, 6 ounces, giving them a three-day total of 41 pounds, 8 ounces. They held a 4-pound, 6-ounce margin of victory over second-place LSU-Shreveport.

For their efforts, they received $50,000 cash, a Ranger 177TR bass boat, $25,000 for the University of Florida, and an automatic berth into the Forrest Wood Cup, the circuit’s professional championship on Arkansas’ Lake Ouachita in August. To date, they have earned $315,000 for their school, which includes four bass boats.

Congratulations to Gipson and Wercinski. Are careers as professional anglers in the future for this pair?