Winning a major regional tournament and snagging a multi-thousand dollar purse? Just another day at the lake for BassPack, N.C. State’s bass fishing club, which won has won two national championships in three years.
Its most recent victory came at the National Guard FLW College Fishing Northern Regional Championship, a three day event which took place Nov. 7-9 on Lake Norman in Huntersville, NC. The top 20 teams in the division qualified, including five teams of two BassPack fisherman apiece.
“We put our time in the water, put a lot of practice in,” Ben Dziwulski, a sophomore in agricultural business management, said. “Friday was the official practice day so we went and checked our areas, made sure the fish was still there.”
However, only the pairing of Dziwulski and Kevin Beverley, a sophomore in biological engineering, advanced to the final day, which consisted of the top five teams. Those five teams automatically qualified for Nationals in April in Nashville, Tenn.
“On day three, any places we moved up was just a bonus,” Dziwulski said. “We obviously wanted to, but we had already qualified for nationals, which is what we wanted to do.”
Beverley struggled to catch keepers throughout the first two days, during which the Pack finished sixth and third, but Dziwulski was able to keep the team afloat. Each team member was only allowed to bring in three keepers, so they headed back with fewer than the allotted six both days.
“Kevin was struggling on Saturday. We adjusted a little bit, but it was still kind of the same story. I had three keepers and Kevin only had two,” Dziwulski said. “Luckily, Kevin really pulled through on Monday. He had two keepers within the first 10 minutes, and that was huge.”
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The duo leapfrogged over Virginia Tech, who had opened up a large lead, in the standings and won by two pounds. Dziwulski said he had no idea State had even “a shot at winning” the tournament because the other teams were so far ahead.
“Kevin really struggled the first two days, but I was able to catch them,” Dziwulski said. “Then on Monday, he was really making the right calls and it all fell together. It was meant to be, I guess.”
Dziwulski and Beverley snagged $50,000 in cash and prizes, including a Ranger bass boat that will be wrapped in school colors. However, neither of them can use it so they plan to auction it off and put a percentage of the proceeds back into the club.
“Neither one of us needs it,” Beverley said. “It’s too much of a hassle for the club to keep it for liability reasons. Part of the money from that boat will go to the club.”
A portion of the winnings goes back to the University.
“We talked to the chancellor, and they decided that it wasn’t fair for them to keep any of the money because they didn’t give us any money because it’s a club sport,” Beverley said.
Instead, the school will now split the money in half and insert it into the pair’s tuition accounts. That is especially beneficial for Dziwulski, who hails from Maryland and pays out-of-state tuition.
The money earned from selling the boat will go toward travel expenses for the club, which will continue to travel the country and earn more accolades in the spring.
“We are widely regarded as the No. 1 bass team in the country,” Dziwulski said. “You can ask anyone who the best college bass fishing teams are in the country and they’re going to say N.C. State, because we have that prestige now.
“Over the past year and a half, it’s been amazing. While the football team isn’t so hot and basketball isn’t doing so well, the bass fishing team is so consistent.”
