Moline second at state bass-fishing tourney

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By Steve Tappa, stappa@qconline.com

– Welcome home trophy presentation today at 3 p.m. at Wharton Field House

Gut-check time Saturday at the state bass-fishing tournament required a gutsy call by Moline High School’s four-person team.

The Maroons stomached the result, though, finishing second in the 57-team event to score the school’s 47th state trophy in IHSA competition.

Moline finished 4-pounds, 13-ounces of fish away from its 12th state title in any sport, the most recent coming in softball in 2006.

Carthage Illini West won the second-year event by catching 16-pounds, 3-ounces of fish on the final day at Carlyle Lake for a two-day total of 30-5.

Moline (25-8) edged Alden-Hebron (25-6) for second despite catching slighlty smaller fish (11-4 to 11-8) on the final day as both finished with the five-fish limit.

“They had fished all day, and caught three fish early, but they went several hours without a fish,” said Moline’s co-coach Tim Albrecht, explaining the trophy-winning call. “So Zach (Latting) and Brady (Barlow) wanted to make a change and go to a new area, and they picked up a fish there. And then they decided to move again, and with only a minute or two left, got another fish, and that proved to be the difference.”

Moline, which stood fifth after Friday’s opening round, was among six teams passing first-day leader Monticello, which caught only one 3-pound, 2-ounce fish Saturday.

Monticello, which finished at 21-1, opened by catching the limit for 17-pounds, 15-ounces of fish.

“Speaking for (fellow) Coach Brian Prybil, who was in the boat with the kids, it was an awesome effort by us,” Albrecht said. “The kids just went with their gut and made a great call.”

The runner-up finish follows last year’s fifth-place showing for Moline in the event’s debut.

“We’ve done well, and that’s a reflection on the collaborative effort by a lot of people,” Albrecht said. “It starts and ends with the kids, though, who have been very passionate about it, and they’ve worked real hard at becoming better and better at competitive fishing. I’m so happy they saw the results of that effort this weekend.”

Along with Latting (junior) and Barlow (senior), the state squad included junior Angie Marshall and senior Ben Snart.

“Zach said every year he’s been on the podium now, and each year they’ve moved up,” Albrecht said. “Next year there’s only one more step to go, and that’s to win the state championship.”

Team Members Brady Barlow and Zach Latting