Record Number of Participants at the 8th Annual Andrew Claymon Memorial Fishing Tournament
The 8th Annual Andrew Claymon Memorial Fishing tournament was held at Merritt Reservoir on Saturday, June 9th with 50 teams consisting of 116 youth and adult participants, competing for prizes in 3 divisions. The tournament is in memory of 16 year old Andrew Claymon who died of cancer on July 5, 2010. Results are as follows:
Division - 1 adult/1 child 10 years and younger:
1st place: Tyce Lee and Holden Hupfer; total weight of 8.78 lbs.
2nd place: Rebel and Zach Nadolski; total weight of 8.25 lbs.
3rd place: Reece and Shawn Hofstetter; total weight of 6.17 lbs.
4th place: Mason and Shane Hamilton; total weight of 5.14 lbs.
Division - 1 adult/1 child 11 – 17 years old:
1st place: Sawyer and Jake McGill; total weight of 21.43 lbs.
2nd place: Jackson Thomas and Greg Wright; total weight of 20.95 lbs.
3rd place: James and Troy Brown; total weight of 19.93 lbs.
4th place: Kayla Bales and Darren Vacek; total weight of 11.91 lbs.
Division - 1 adult/2 children 17 years and younger:
1st place: Nash, Hayley and Doug Hesse; total weight of 22.44 lbs.
2nd place: Clayton, Brayden and Matt Sharp; total weight of 21.98 lbs.
3rd place: Oliver, Gavin and Chance Nutter; total weight of 20.68 lbs.
4th place: Cora, Ally and Tad Wright; total weight of 12.50 lbs.
Heaviest walleye: Dylan Coates and Phillip Francke; 8.48 lbs.
Heaviest northern pike: Jackson Thomas and Greg Wright; 7.72 lbs.
Heaviest largemouth bass: Emma, Rylan and Scott Javins; 3.95 lbs.
Heaviest smallmouth bass: Dexter and Josh Guynan; 2.23 lbs.
Overall heaviest fish: Dylan Coates and Phillip Francke; walleye 8.48 lbs.
Youth participants had the opportunity to tell their hard luck story to a judge and a winner was chosen based on the judge’s decision. The winner of the Hard Luck award, which was created and funded by Andrew’s Uncle Dan Davenport, was Jed Brown.
Trophies, medals, fishing/camping/outdoor merchandise, cash and Scheels gift cards were presented to the Top 4 in each division. Additionally, each youth participant received a medal and a prize. Numerous random drawings were held from all eligible youth participants and included: two free NE Game & Parks youth lifetime hunt/fish combo permits, fishing time with members of the UNL Husker Bass Anglers team, a $50 Cabela’s gift card and two $50 gift certificates to Merritt Trading Post Resort.
The Claymon and Davenport families would like to thank the corporate sponsor Scheels and the promoting sponsor, Cherry County Visitor Promotion Board, as well as, the following sponsors:
The Insurance Center, Jan & Eric Noteboom
Rob Lee and The Jim Lee Ranch
Merritt Trading Post and The John Bauer family
John and Linda Nadolski.
Drey Inc. and The Drey Family
Winner’s Circle Auto Center and The Porter Family
Hy-Vee
The Allan Claymon Family
In Memory of Grandma Sherry and Grandpa Jim Davenport
Mills Hardware
Young’s Marine
Premier Boating Center
Pinnacle Bank
Husker Bass Anglers
Thank you also to Kim and Dan Epke and their families for everything that they provided for the tournament dinner.
Tentative date for the 9th Annual Andrew Claymon memorial fishing tournament is Saturday, June 8, 2019 pending approval from NE Game & Parks.