J.Z. George High School can boast of being state champions in bass fishing.
The brother duo of Zachery Lowe and Payton Corley captured the top prize at the MHSAA state tournament Sunday on Pickwick Lake at J.P. Coleman State Park in Iuka.
This was the first-ever state bass fishing tournament sanctioned by the MHSAA.
"This is just awesome," said J.Z. George athletic director Nathan Moncrief. "We're very proud of these two young men."
Lowe, 17, and Corley, 12, finished the one-day event with a total catch of 16 pounds, seven ounces. Lowe is a sophomore at the high school, and Corley is in the seventh grade at the junior high.
"It's awesome," said Lowe, who had more catches than his younger brother, but Corley had their biggest catch at 3 pounds, 14 ounces.
"We never thought we'd be doing anything like this. It's an amazing feeling to bring a state championship to J.Z. George," added Lowe. "Payton and me are the first-ever state champions in bass fishing."
The day started at 7 a.m. for the pair and ended with weigh-in after the 3 p.m. cut off.
"We feel absolutely blessed," said Steven Lamar Goss, who served as their coach. Goss is Lowe's father and Corley's step-father. "We got up here Thursday and fished for a couple of hours without much success. Then we had some equipment problems on Friday, but it all came together on Saturday when we went out. We found some good spots where they were biting, and Payton actually caught his biggest fish of the weekend at 4 pounds, 5.6 ounces.
"Within 45 minutes Sunday, the boys couldn't miss. You are only allowed five total fish in the well, and as they caught a bigger one, they'd tag the smaller one and throw it back in. This will go a long ways on their resume. A lot of people don't believe me when I tell them they can go to school on a fishing scholarship."
While the MHSAA event was being held, Lowe and Corley were also competing at the same time in a second event sanctioned by the Student Angler Federation/The Bass Federation. There were even more teams competing, and the J.Z. George duo placed second with their total catch. They compete in the Bass Tactix circuit for youth ages 5 to high school seniors.
The top two teams from the SAF/TBF event qualified for the national championships, which will be held June 30-July 3 at Lake Hartwell in South Carolina.
"The tournament director told me to do everything we can to make it to the national championships," said Goss. "It's a four-day event, so I guess we'll be raising funds to get the boys there."
Lowe and Corley received first-place plaques from the MHSAA Sunday.
"I think they finally started to understand what they accomplished," said Goss. "My whole family enjoys fishing. I encourage everyone to get involved with their families and take them fishing. No better way to have family time."
