FishRook
LAKE OUACHITA — Before Saturday, Skyler Upton and Brayden Stewart, both of Benton, had never won a high school bass tournament.
Representing Benton High School, the duo won the tournament that mattered most, the third annual Commissioner’s Cup at Lake Ouachita. It was also their last high school tournament together. Upton will attend Southern Arkansas University in the fall, and Stewart will join his family’s business.
“Our whole high school career, we’ve never won a tournament,” Upton said. “I’m glad it was this one because this one is nationally recognized. It’s our last high school tournament.”
Mason Watkins and Walker Woodall won the junior division with 9.19 pounds.
Xander Ray Cobb of Hot Springs, representing Cutter-Morning Star High School, won the coveted big bass award — a custom trophy from Harper’s Pure Country Taxidermy in Damascus — with a largemouth that weighed 4.05 pounds.
The Commissioner’s Cup is the state’s premier high school fishing tournament and also a…
