In his first time fishing outside the state of Oklahoma, Royce Dennington outfished 53 other amateur anglers with a catch of 43 pounds of bass to win the BASS Federation Nation National Championship on Alabama’s Lake Neely Henry.
The 39-year-old science teacher at Barnsdall, Oklahoma High School beat South Carolina Federation Nation representative Brent Long by a mere 2 ounces. Dennington brought 14 pounds, 14 ounces to the scales on Friday, just enough to nudge Long from the leader’s spot he had attained on Friday.
With the victory, Dennington earned one of six coveted Federation Nation berths in the 2007 Bassmaster Classic, a spot in the Bassmaster Elite Series, $15,000 in cash, a fully rigged Triton boat valued at $50,000, and a guaranteed spot in the Bassmaster Open division of his choice.
Fishing fans can catch Dennington’s banner day and all of the on-the-water Federation Nation action on ESPN2 on Saturday, Jan. 27, at 9 a.m. ET.
“I wasn’t even worried about winning this tournament,” an elated Dennington said. “I just wanted to make the Classic. But this (first-place finish) is a nice surprise. This is just incredible.”
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Dennington earned his win by working a brown custom-made jig in 16 to 18 feet of water, focusing on just a few spots all three days of the championship event.
Although Long, 36, missed out on the victory by 2 ounces, he was not overly disappointed: He still qualified for his first Bassmaster Classic via his top finish in the Southern Division.
Finishing third in the three-day Federation Nation event was Texan Jimmy Johnson (39-7). He was followed by Japan’s Shigeru Tsukiyama (38-1) and Maryland’s Kevin Waterman (34-11).
Four other Federation Nation anglers will join Dennington and Long at the Classic because they also were victorious within their regional division. Tsukiyama of Tokyo was first in the Western Division; Waterman of La Plata., Md., emerged as the winner in the Mid-Atlantic Division; Chris Novack of Willington, Conn., was first in the Eastern Division; and Terry McWilliams of Greenfield, Ind., won in the Northern Division.
“I have been trying to get to the Classic through the Federation Nation since 1990,” said McWilliams, who, like his fellow qualifiers, had to fish many tournaments to reach the Classic level of competition. “This is just a dream come true and I can’t wait to get to the Classic.”
The same day the six BASS Federation Nation anglers learned they’d be fishing the Classic, 12 aspiring young anglers earned the right to compete in the CastingKids National Championship, to be held concurrently with the Feb 23-25 Classic in Birmingham, Ala..
Final
Central
Division Standings (Top 20)
| PL |
Anglers |
Hometown,
State |
Total |
|
|
|
Weight |
| 1. |
Royce
Dennington |
Barnsdall,
OK |
43-00 |
| 2. |
Brent
Long |
Catawba,
NC |
42-14 |
| 3. |
Jimmy
Johnson |
Ganado,
TX |
39-07 |
| 4. |
Shigeru
Tsukiyama |
Tokyo
JAPAN |
38-01 |
| 5. |
Kevin
Waterman |
Laplata,
MD |
34-11 |
| 6. |
David
Kromm |
Kennewick,
WA |
33-00 |
| 7. |
Bryan
Thrift |
Shelby,
NC |
32-10 |
| 8. |
Greg
Alexander |
Hebron,
MD |
30-08 |
| 9. |
Jim
Lambert |
Pittsburg,
PA |
30-04 |
| 10. |
Terry
McWilliams |
Greenfield,
IN |
29-12 |
| 11. |
Mike
Mattis |
Hudson,
WI |
29-09 |
| 12. |
Ivan
Morris |
Virginia
Beach, VA |
27-01 |
| 13. |
Tim
Runions |
New
Tazewell, TN |
26-00 |
| 14. |
Hoyt
Akins |
Alexander,
AR |
25-09 |
| 15. |
Chris
Novack |
Willington,
CT |
24-04 |
| 16. |
Jeff
Brown |
Brandon,
SD |
23-11 |
| 16. |
Anre'
De Villiers |
South
Africa |
23-11 |
| 16. |
Mike
Edrington |
Olathe,
KS |
23-11 |
| 19. |
David
Junk |
Quincy,
IL |
23-10 |
| 20. |
Marco
Rodriguez |
Nyssa,
OR |
23-04 |
*Anglers
in the silver area are headed to the 2007
Bassmaster Classic
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