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Adrian College’s Braylon Eggerding and Lucas Washburn narrowly claimed the victory at the Abu Garcia College Fishing National Championship Thursday on Kissimmee’s Lake Tohopekaliga. PHOTO/ROB MATSUURA
The Adrian College team of Braylon Eggerding and Lucas Washburn entered the second and final day of the weather-shortened Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI National Championship Thursday in 10th place. When they launched their boat that morning, they believed they still had a chance to take home the trophy, and knew the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes held enough giant bass to make up the deficit.
But By the time they returned to Big Toho Marina for the weigh-in, however, they thought the opportunity had slipped away. It wasn’t that Eggerding and Washburn had struggled. They sacked up 23 pounds, 9 ounces—nearly five pounds more than the day prior—including a massive, 11-pound, seven-ounce fish. But with seven teams having topped 20 pounds on Day 1, including a 27-3 bag from Montevallo’s Nick Dumke and Easton Fothergill, they didn’t think it would be enough.
“Honestly, we did not think we’d have enough to win,” Eggerding said. “We thought we’d get beat by at least a few pounds. I had lost a key fish that I broke off. It was a (six or seven) pounder. So, we were kind of down.”
The feeling wouldn’t last long. Eggerding and Washburn watched from the hot seat as each of the final 10 teams brought their fish to the scales. Each came up short. Their two-day total of 42-4 ultimately edged the Campbellsville University team of Carter Doren and Ryan Lachniet— by a single ounce.
“Utter disbelief,” Washburn said of his reaction. “I had no words. I mean, I had a million thoughts racing through my mind, but just nothing came out.”
The victory marks the first-ever title for Adrian, a perennial College Fishing powerhouse. The eightand- a-half pound deficit Eggerding and Washburn erased also represents the biggest final-day comeback at the National Championship since at least 2016.
For the win, Adrian College will receive a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard plus $10,000. Eggerding and Washburn, both sophomores, also gained entry into the Toyota Series Championship as pros. Whichever of the two finishes higher at Wheeler Lake will earn a berth to REDCREST 2025.
In the moments after weigh-in, those future opportunities hadn’t really sunk in yet. But both Eggerding and Washburn noted their pride in bringing a championship back to Adrian College, which had a second team (Gerald Brumbaugh and Mitchell Straffon) finish among the Top 10.
“It’s huge,” Washburn said. “Hopefully it’s the start of some momentum that we can keep rolling throughout the season. It’s going to be huge for our points. It’s going to be a huge morale boost for the team overall. And we’re excited that we were able to pull it off.”
In a testament to the level of fishing on Lake Toho, there were 598 bass weighing 1,375 pounds, 10 ounces caught by 125 teams Thursday. The event was scheduled to start Tuesday, but the inclement weather that rolled through the area kept the boats on land for a day.
Teams from UCF and Florida Gateway College in Lake City competed in the 120-team event as in-state fishermen.
