It has been an incredible season for the Becker Bass Team, culminating in six of their teams heading off to state competition at the end of the month.

“What an incredible way to wrap up the Minnesota Student Angler Tournament Trail,” said Coach Dusty Wright. “And the team of Tyler Matvick and Zach Dostal are on fire!”

The duo took first place out of 130 boats on the Le Homme Dieu chain in Alexandria on July 28, catching over 30 fish and turning in a seven fish limit weighing 26 lbs., 10 oz. 

Competing against 100 boats last weekend on the Mississippi River – Pool 4, Matvick and Dostal placed second with their fish limit weighing 22 lbs., 3 oz. First place Wayzata barely overtook them, with their seven fish limit coming in at 22 lbs., 5 oz. The winning team was awarded $2,000 worth of scholarships.

“Hats go off to ‘Biggtime’ Charlie Wright and Carter Heitala for taking 13th place on Le Homme Dieu and 11th on Pool 4,” said Wright.

The Student Angler Tournament Trail is sponsored by Lund, Rapala, Scheels and Shimano, and offers five tournaments; teams can participate in as many of them as they want.

The fields have maximum boats from 100 to 200 per tournament. Becker Bass typically brings four to 10 teams to each tournament.

Teams that finish in the top 10% of the field for the day are invited to participate in the Tournament of Champions (State Final Competition) on Lake Vermillion, which will be held Aug. 25 and 26 this year. Over $20,000 worth of scholarships will be awarded to participants.

This year Becker Bass has six teams that have qualified for State Final Competition; Charlie Wright and Carter Heitala, Zach Dostal and Tyler Matvick, Mason Doucette and Tristan Marting, Parker Meyer and Gavin Swanson, Mathew Huffman and Bennett Tatge, and Colton Johannes and Mason Schmidt.

Earlier in the season the team of Charlie Wright and Carter Heitala participated in the National High School Tournament on Pickwick Lake in Florence, AL. Competing in the four-day tournament, Wright and Heitala finished in the top 40 teams out of 400.

The duo came in second best from Minnesota out of 12 teams; 38 states and two foreign countries were represented at the tournament.

Currently Becker Bass looks to have three teams who will qualify for the National Tournament in 2020, which will be held in LaCrosse, WI.

“We want to say a special thank you and shout out to the Student Angler Tournament Trail, our wonderful volunteers, sponsors, parents, community and student anglers for making this one awesome year,” said Wright.

To see more photos or to follow the Becker Bass Team, find them on Facebook; Becker High School Fishing, or visit beckerbass.com.