OU Sooners Win Bassmaster College Series
COLLEGE CHAMPS: The Oklahoma Sooners bass fishing team defeated defending champion Oklahoma State and Arkansas to become the Bassmaster College Classic champion. The Sooners team includes Landon Dixon, Alex Edgeman, John Haines, Caleb Masters, Paul Muzljakovich and Jared Paris. OU’s two-man teams caight more than 27 pounds. The 2014 Bassmaster College Classic will be held at Alabama’s Lake Guntersville.
GTR Newspapers photo
The 2013 Bassmaster Classic, presented by Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tulsa, wrapped up yesterday with Cliff Pace of Mississippi taking home the World Champion title and the Oklahoma Sooners winning the College Series. Pace beat out 52 other anglers in the Super Bowl of bass fishing held over the weekend on Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees with daily weigh-in shows filling the Center to maximum capacity Saturday and Sunday. Across the street at the Tulsa Convention Center, more than 100,000 attendees shopped the 150,000 square feet of the Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo.
The entire Tulsa region was filled with increased visitor and attendee traffic, with restaurants, bars and stores experiencing high levels of activity. Local hotels received a boost from the event. The Chamber will report final numbers in upcoming issues of the Monday Memo and Chamber Report.
“It was incredible to see the entire Tulsa community work together for this huge event,” said Jeff Stava, chair of the 2013 Bassmaster Classic local organizing committee and chief operating officer of the Tulsa Community Foundation. “From the incredible sponsors, Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tulsa, ONEOK, Bank of Oklahoma, Williams, City of Tulsa and so many more, to the kids who participated in the youth art contest and the local businesses who decorated 29-inch replica fish to commemorate the event, the Bassmaster Classic was accepted and supported across the entire community.”
Eleven local businesses participated in the Classic Commemorative Challenge, designing 29-inch replica largemouth bass and submitting them for public judging via social media and in the Outdoors Expo. Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tulsa won the contest with 279 likes on Facebook and will receive a prize package provided by Zebco.
Local elementary students Braden Graves and Sheldon Bob tied for first place in the “My Classic Catch” art contest for K-through-5th graders. Graves and Bob each won a prize package provided by Zebco and Andy B’s, along with a field trip for each of their classes to Bass Pro Shops in Broken Arrow.
“Thank you to all of our sponsors and the entire Tulsa community for their support,” says Ray Hoyt, senior vice president of VisitTulsa and the Tulsa Sports Commission. “This event was a huge success for our region. We couldn’t have done it without our community partners. The Tulsa Sports Commission looks forward to bringing more of these high caliber events to the region soon.”
Watch the Bassmaster Classic this weekend on ESPN2. For dates and times, visit www.Bassmaster.com.
Updated 03-27-2013
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