Wheeler Will Take A Crack At 2nd Straight Win

By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor

After topping the standings in the Knockout Round at the Lake Okeechobee MLF Bass Pro Tour, Jacob Wheeler will get a shot at his second consecutive victory to start the 2020 season.

The No. 1 angler in the BassFan World Rankings and the winner earlier this month at Alabama's Lake Eufaula caught 10 scoreable fish (2 pounds or heavier) for 35-01 to top the list of eight anglers who advanced to the finals. His weight topped runner-up Zack Birge by 2-05.

"It's going to take a lot of weight (to win) tomorrow ... I've really got a feeling about that," said Wheeler, whose biggest fish was an ounce shy of 6 pounds. "Okeechobee is saving its best for last.

"These first two events I've started strong and now I have a chance to go back to back, and I'd love nothing more than to do that. There's going to be a lot of stiff competition because there were some guys who crushed them this afternoon. There are a lot of places where big ones are moving up."

In addition to Wheeler and Birge (10 fish for 32-12, other competitors who gained berths in the finals today were Jeff Sprague (10, 31-08), Randall Tharp (8, 30-05), Michael Neal (10, 29-11), Jacob Powroznik (9, 29-05), James Elam (9, 27-14) and Fletcher Shryock (7, 27-11). They'll be joined by Takahiro Omori and Jordan Lee, who garnered their spots early by winning their qualifying groups.

It'll be the sixth Championship Round appearance for Wheeler in the 10 BPT regular-season derbies to date. It'll be the fifth for Lee and the fourth for Sprague.

Shryock is the lone competitor who'll make his finals debut. His best BPT finish to this point was a 17th last June at Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin.

Elam caught a 4-pounder with 8 minutes remaining to move inside the top 8, bumping out Ott Defoe. He nailed down his finals slot with a 2-pounder in the closing minute.

He caught just one scoreable fish in his initial qualifying round, then added three in his second day on the water to squeak into the Knockout Round in 18th place.

Today he fished the same canal system that Lee rode to his victory in the Group B qualifying.

"After the way the first half of the tournament went for me, I never thought this was possible," he said. "I think I've really wore my stuff out, though, and I don't know if I'll have a chance to win if I keep fishing it. There's a lot more canals, but I think I've hit all the best ones."

DeFoe boated three fish in the final five minutes, but each was an ounce or two shy of being scoreable and he was forced to settle for a 10th-place finish.

"When you make it you get the fish in that you need, and when you don't, you don't," he said. "There's not much else you can say about it other that it hurts, it stinks, it stings ... whatever negative adjective you want to put in there."

Knockout Round

(Weight of angler's heaviest bass for the round in parentheses)

1. Jacob Wheeler -- 10, 35-01 -- (5-15)

2. Zack Birge -- 10, 32-12 -- (5-10)

3. Jeff Sprague -- 10, 31-08 -- (5-04)

4. Randall Tharp -- 8, 30-05 -- (5-06)

5. Michael Neal -- 10, 29-11 -- (4-09)

6. Jacob Powroznik -- 9, 29-05 -- (5-12)

7. James Elam -- 9, 27-14 -- (7-05)

8. Fletcher Shryock -- 7, 27-11 -- (6-05)

The following anglers did not make the cut and will not compete in the Championship Round.

9. Stephen Browning -- 10, 26-06 -- (4-15)

10. Ott DeFoe -- 9, 24-02 -- (3-07)

11. Dave Lefebre -- 7, 19-09 -- (4-08)

12. Wesley Strader -- 8, 19-01 -- (2-11)

13. Cliff Pace -- 5, 18-10 -- (5-12)

14. Kevin VanDam -- 6, 18-04 -- (4-04)

15. Greg Hackney -- 6, 17-13 -- (5-09)

16. Andy Montgomery -- 6, 17-01 -- (4-14)

17. Anthony Gagliardi -- 5, 15-02 -- (4-04)

18. Mark Daniels, Jr. -- 5, 14-10 -- (3-10)

19. Cody Meyer -- 3, 14-09 -- (6-07)

20. Adrian Avena -- 4, 12-07 -- (4-00)

21. Andy Morgan -- 3, 12-05 -- (5-02)

22. Brent Chapman -- 5, 12-01 -- (3-01)

23. Josh Bertrand -- 5, 11-08 -- (2-12)

24. Britt Myers -- 3, 10-08 -- (4-14)

25. Alton Jones -- 2, 10-05 -- (8-03)

26. Mark Rose -- 3, 9-02 -- (4-04)

27. Ish Monroe -- 2, 8-11 -- (6-05)

28. Dustin Connell -- 2, 8-04 -- (4-11)

29. Scott Suggs -- 3, 8-02 -- (2-14)

30. Gerald Spohrer -- 2, 8-01 -- (6-01)

31. Fred Roumbanis -- 2, 6-13 -- (4-05)

32. Mike McClelland -- 3, 6-08 -- (2-05)

33. Dean Rojas -- 2, 6-06 -- (3-06)

34. Shaw Grigsby -- 2, 6-00 -- (4-00)

35. Jason Lambert -- 1, 4-09 -- (4-09)

36. Chris Lane -- 2, 4-07 -- (2-07)

37. Todd Faircloth -- 1, 2-09 -- (2-09)

38. David Dudley -- 0, 0-00 -- (0-00)