Mount Olive duo snags 2nd at fishing world finals
Published 5:19 pm Friday, June 28, 2019
The Phillips brothers are at it again.
Griffin and Fletcher of Gardendale High School combined for three bass last Saturday to secure second place at the 2019 TBF Student Angler Federation High School Fishing World Finals on Pickwick Lake in Florence. The Mount Olive brothers trailed tournament champions Anthony Cicero IV and Dakota Snyder of Pennsylvania by one pound, nine ounces at the final weigh-in.
The four-day event started with a field of 389 boats and narrowed competition down to 31 teams for the final leg on Saturday. According to the FLW, last week’s event was the largest High School Fishing Open event in the country.
Corner High School’s duo of Ethan Franklin and Hayden McCarthy joined Griffin and Fletcher in the top 10:
1st: Elizabethtown High School, Elizabethtown, Pa. – Anthony Cicero IV and Dakota Snyder, both of Elizabethtown, Pa., three bass, 16-6
2nd: Gardendale High School, Gardendale, Ala. – Griffin Phillips and Fletcher Phillips, both of Mount Olive, Ala., three bass, 14-13
3rd: Lawrence County High School, Lawrenceburg, Tenn. – Will Daniels and Kade Suratt, both of Lawrenceburg, Tenn., three bass, 13-3
4th: Lawrence County High School, Lawrenceburg, Tenn. – J.D. Bedford, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., and Walker Brown, Loretto, Tenn., three bass, 12-10
5th: Hamburg High School, Hamburg, Ark. – Austin Fleming, Hamburg, Ark., and Ben Brockwell, Crossett, Ark., three bass, 12-5
6th: North Augusta High School, North Augusta, S.C. – Dustin Williamson, Aiken, S.C., and Nathan Boatwright, Warrenville, S.C., three bass, 12-2
7th: Corner High School, Dora, Ala. – Ethan Franklin, Empire, Ala., and Hayden McCarty, Dora, Ala., three bass, 12-0
8th: Marshall County High School, Benton, Ky. – Tristan Barrett, Benton, Ky., and Harlan Thomas, Gilbertsville, Ky., three bass, 11-6
9th: McCracken County High School, Paducah, Ky. – Sarah Morehead and Hunter Valerius, both of Paducah, Ky., three bass, 10-12
10th: Mount Bethel Christian Academy, Marietta, Ga. – Brooks Anderson and David Britt, both of Marietta, Ga., three bass, 10-8
Griffin, a Montevallo signee in the Class of 2019, placed fifth at the 2019 Basspro.com Central Open at Smith Lake earlier this summer.