Mike Blankenship, left, team captain, and Mason Blankenship, middle, watch as Joe Bergman reels-in a fish during a recent high school bass fishing tournament on Island Lake near Duluth. The team is one two from Wrenshall to qualify for the Minnesota Junior BASS Minnesota Junior BASS Nation State Tournament Aug. 24-25 at the Le Homme Dieu Chain of Lakes near Alexandria. (News Tribune file photo)
Wrenshall School had two teams finish in the top 10 of the Minnesota Junior BASS Nation Greater North Conference after events earlier this summer on Island Lake in Duluth, Lake Minnewawa near Aitkin and Lake Vermillion near Tower.
One team of Joe Bergman and Mason Blankenship finished sixth after the three events with 279 total points. The other team of Judah Sjodin and Connor Ankrum finished seventh in the conference with 274 total points.
With the top 10 finishes, the anglers qualified for the High School State Championship Tournament Aug. 24-25 at the Le Homme Dieu Chain of Lakes near Alexandria.
Members of the Wrenshall High School bass fishing club look on as Gordon Fothergill, left, weighs a bag of smallmouth bass at an Island Lake boat landing. The bass are kept in a watertight bag until weighed, then immediately returned to the lake. Each team's largest fish was also measured. Fothergill is an organizer and team captain for the Grand Rapids High School fishing club. John Myers / jmyers@duluthnews.com
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Members of the Wrenshall High School bass fishing club look on as Gordon Fothergill, left, weighs a bag of smallmouth bass at an Island Lake boat landing. The bass are kept in a watertight bag until weighed, then immediately returned to the lake. Each team's largest fish was also measured. Fothergill is an organizer and team captain for the Grand Rapids High School fishing club. John Myers / jmyers@duluthnews.com
Jamey Malcomb has a been high school sports reporter for the Duluth News Tribune since October 2021. He spent the previous six years covering news and sports for the Lake County News-Chronicle in Two Harbors and the Cloquet Pine Journal. He graduated from the George Washington University in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in history and literature and also holds a master's degree in secondary English education from George Mason University.
