Neenah captured its first Wisconsin Interscholastic Fishing Association state championship on Feb. 18-19 in Minocqua, dethroning three-time defending champion Wisconsin Rapids.
The 10-member Neenah team caught a total of 269.75 inches of fish on the Minocqua Chain of Lakes. The team caught 25 of its 26 fish maximum. They totaled 176.75 inches of gamefish and 93 inches of panfish. Wisconsin Rapids placed second with 242.07 inches. Over 90 schools have fishing teams around the state and a total of 61 teams recorded catches at the meet.
Neenah finished second at the state meet last year and was named the state’s “Team of the Year” for its efforts with community fishing and ecology programs. The award was presented at an event on Feb. 17 prior to this year’s meet. The Rockets had finished in the top 10 at state the past three years.
This year marked the sixth year of the state tournament. Prior to Wisconsin Rapids’ three consecutive titles, Fond du Lac won in 2014 and New Holstein won in 2013.
Members of the championship team are Josh Gordon, Andrew Arendt, Joey Porto, Will Foucault, Jacob Kaszuba, Kameron Kellogg, Foster Friedrich, Colton Tiedt, Ben Arendt and Riley Baumann. The team is coached by Kris Lulloff and Chad Berken.
Neenah also had a second five-member team at the state meet that placed 16th with 113.71 inches. Members of that squad are Trey Van Handel, Brody Juedes, Skyler Plotz, Garrett Weiser and Mitchell Bell. The team is coached by Chris Jones and Pete Kaszuba. Others who assisted the team in preparing for state were Jon Gumtow, Ryan Hammerschmidt, Greg Friedrich, Andrew Gumtow and Bradley Gumtow.
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