Tennessee Tech Anglers Qualify for Ranger Cup University Team of the Year
OutdoorHub 05.30.13
Joe Slagle and Cliff Dye, collegiate anglers from Tennessee Tech University, became the second team to qualify for the 2013 Ranger Cup University Team of the Year finals with their runner-up finish at the BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship on Alabama’s Lake Pickwick. As the highest-finishing Ranger Cup University-qualified team with a total weight of 44.27 pounds during the two-day event, the duo received $1,000 cash as well as an expense-paid trip to Texas’ famed Lake Fork where they will compete for the Team of the Year title later this year.
Slagle and Dye will be matched against Paul Clark and Brett Preuett, anglers from the University of Louisiana-Monroe who won last month’s FLW College Fishing National Championship. Both teams will receive a grand-prize package, which includes travel, lodging and meals, as well as the opportunity to compete from fully rigged Ranger boats. The made-for-TV event will be televised nationally on “Americana Outdoors” seen on the NBC Sports Network.
“Really everything worked out perfectly,” said Slagle, who finished second in the BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship event for the second year in a row. “We executed well and didn’t lose anything that would have made a difference, so I’m satisfied. We just needed one more big bite to win and it just didn’t come for us.”
Though the team came up 2.5 pounds short of winning the BoatUS championship, the Tennessee Tech team actually netted more prize money than did the tournament’s winners through contingency prizes and bonuses. In addition to the $2,500 second-place prize money, Slagle and Dye took home the $1,000 Ranger Cup University bonus plus contingency prizes from Cabela’s, Berkley, BoatUS, Yamaha and Hydrowave for a total of more than $7,500 in cash and prizes.
Modeled after the most lucrative contingency rewards in the industry, Ranger Cup, Ranger Cup University is the first program of its kind exclusively for collegiate anglers and is open to those fishing in either FLW- or BoatUS-affiliated competitions. Signup is free, regardless of which brand of boat they own. To remain qualified in the program, anglers need only adhere to clothing and logo requirements. And as part of the Ranger Cup University program, participants will be able to receive specially discounted tournament gear through Gemini Custom Apparel, with no artwork or set-up fees.
With the discounts, Ranger Cup University anglers can purchase fully customized tournament jerseys for as low as $48.
For more information on Ranger Cup University, to register and read all about the program guidelines and payout opportunities, go online to RangerBoats.com.
