MCE team takes first place in fishing tourney.

Keegan Bates and Wyatt Crawford of Mason County Eastern

MCE team takes first place in fishing tourney.

STRONACH TOWNSHIP — Mason County Eastern students Keegan Bates and Wyatt Crawford were the big winners in the inaugural West Michigan D League Fishing Tournament, which took place Sunday, Sept. 29 on Manistee Lake, at the Stronach boat launch.

Seven teams, representing four schools competed. Schools represented were MCE, Bear Lake, Brethren, and Marion.

Competitors caught 11 bass with a total combined weight of 25.56 pounds. Bates and Crawford caught four bass with a combined weight of 10.36 pounds. They also had the biggest individual bass weighing 3.91 pounds.

Chase Ryan and Alex Sutten of Marion took second place with three bass weighing a combined 5.51 pounds; Dillon Bialik and Kaden Podbilski of Brethren took third place with two bass with a combined weight of 5.51 pounds.

“This first event was a success and we are  hopeful that more schools within the WMD League will be represented in the next tournament,” said Paul Shoup, MCE superintendent and coach.”

Weather permitting, the teams will have an opportunity to compete again on October 13..

“We want to thank the families for driving their kids to Manistee Lake, the boat captains for donating their time, and the WMD League schools for giving their students another opportunity to be part of a team and compete for their schools.”