Two Eureka High School anglers are headed to the national stage after winning a competitive bass fishing tournament last weekend — and a $5,000 scholarship could be waiting at the finish line.

Harper Hicks and Dillon Huskey, fishing as the Eureka Wildcats, brought five bass to the scale weighing 16 pounds, 1 ounce to win the MLF Abu Garcia High School Fishing Open on Table Rock Lake in Branson on Saturday, April 12. The victory punched their ticket to the 2026 High School Fishing National Championship, scheduled for June 24–27 at Lake Cumberland in Jamestown, Kentucky, according to Major League Fishing.

The win wasn't close. Second-place finishers Gaige Koontz and Elijah Rice of Stockton High School weighed in at 15 pounds, 6 ounces — nearly a pound back — and also qualified for nationals. Franklin Technology Center's Gage Oxendine and Jeran Swaffar took third at 14 pounds, 14 ounces.

Under MLF rules, the top 10% of teams in each open tournament advance to the National Championship. The Table Rock Lake event was free to enter, hosted by ExploreBranson.com.

The national championship stakes are real: both members of the winning team at nationals earn a $5,000 scholarship to the school of their choice, MLF confirmed on its high school fishing info page. The national champion also advances to the Toyota Series Championship as co-anglers, with coverage on VICE Sports.

Even without a national title, Hicks and Huskey are already in the money conversation — all teams competing in MLF High School Fishing Opens automatically qualify for the World Finals, where more than $3 million in scholarships and prizes are up for grabs.

The MLF Abu Garcia circuit is open to students in grades 7–12 and runs as a free, two-person team format — making it one of the more accessible paths to national competition for student-athletes in the area.

The Eureka duo will compete at Lake Cumberland starting June 24.