LEESBURG, Fla. – Wyatt Reid and Gehrig DeFronzo of the Erskine College bass fishing team finished the 2020 Carhartt Bassmaster College National Championship in 44th on Friday.
 
Tournament Results | Reid & DeFronzo Interview
 

Place	Total (Fish/Weight)	Day 1 (Fish/Weight)	Day 2 (Fish/Weight)
44th	10 / 24-0	5 / 13-15	5 / 10-1

Reid and DeFronzo produced a two-day total of 24 pounds placing them in the country's top 50 best fishers.
 
"The first day we were able to get the two-kicker fish and today, we actually caught more fish, but we struggled to find the big bites and that's what hurt us," Reid said.
 
Reid and DeFronzo finished the opening day of the tournament in 34th in position to move up the leaderboard had they found the correct fish.
 
Out of a total of 118 teams, only the top 12 make the cut for tomorrow's championship round.
 
"Our biggest thanks has to be to Erskine," DeFronzo said. "It was huge for the school to put us on as a full athletic team and allow the ability to people to come to school and relieve some of the financial burden by doing what they love so much."
 
Although the Fleet graduates will no longer take the waters for Erskine again, they have laid the foundation for the program to grow in the future.
 
"It means the world to us," DeFronzo said of competing in the Bassmaster tournament. "All that hard work and late nights to try and figure out how to get the program started and to finally see it pay off and get to the ultimate goal to be here and to get fish it."
 
Erskine began its bass fishing team prior to the 2019-20 season, with DeFronzo and Reid at the helm.
 
"It was cool to get to wear our alma mater colors and jersey and come out here and try and bring something back," DeFronzo said. "It was rewarding."
 
"It's something that means a lot and it's something we'll remember forever," Reid said. "More than anything I'm excited to see how it continues to grow (in the future)."
 
MORE ABOUT THE ERSKINE COLLEGE FLYING FLEET

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