ULM Fishing team crowned FLW College national champions

They thought it was over.

Paul Clark and Brett Preuett had been in this position before. Just one fish short of a championship.

FLW Outdoors—the sanctioning organization for collegiate fishing—crowns its national champion by calculating the total weight of the fish each team catches over the three-day tournament.  A maximum of five fish is allowed.

The tournament seemed to be playing out like so many others have before. Clark and Preuett came up with four fish yet again.

The duo thought they had fallen short of their goal of bringing a national championship to ULM, but the math proved otherwise.

Anchored by an 18 pound fish caught on the second day of competition, the ULM fishing team captured the FLW College National Fishing Championship in just its fourth year of existence.

“It’s awesome. Not only are we excited to be national champions, but Brett and I are graduating and we are excited to leave something for the guys still here,” Clark said.

ULM’s three-day total of 40 pounds, three ounces was enough to take home the title, edging the 39 pound, 10 ounce tally of UNC-Charlotte.

Team advisor Ralph Swillie was unable to make the trip, but stayed in constant contact with the team.

“I spoke to them every day,” Swillie said. “The first day they were down, they thought they had lost it. The second day they were hopeful and then they won it all.”

As national champions, the team is now automatically qualified to compete in the 2013 Forrest Wood Cup World Championship August 15-18 in Shreveport.

Clark and Preuett took home a total of $30,000 in prize money for winning the tournament, which they plan on investing in the fishing team.

“We are two of the founding members of this team,” Clark said. “I feel like we have set the guys up for future success.”