Lanier High School students take state title in bass fishing

Lanier High School students Bryson Dover and Angel Cornejo have won the 2023 GHSA Bass Fishing State Championship. 

The competition was held Saturday, May 20, at Clarks Hill Lake in Lincolnton, where, with 30 minutes remaining in the competition, Dover caught a 5-pound largemouth bass. That catch was followed 10 minutes later with Cornejo securing a 6.88-pound largemouth. 

“This is equivalent to a buzzer-beater or last-second touchdown, securing them the State Championship title,” said head bass fishing coach Tyler Nemec. 

Dover and Cornejo, along with their boat captain Randy Dover, join Lanier students Ben Claypole and Gibson Reitig and their boat captain Todd Anderson in qualifying for the national bass fishing tournament June 21-24 in La Crosse, Wisconsin, where they will compete for $3 million in scholarships and other prizes. Claypole and Reitig won the SAF Georgia High School State Tournament on Sunday, May 7, on Lake Lanier. 

“It is a remarkable achievement for…