JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — The Top 21 boats from this past weekend's 2017 Carhartt Bassmaster College Eastern Conference Regional earned a bid to the national championship and Campbellsville's top pair missed the cut by nine ounces.
 
Nick Ratliff and Luke Patterson caught a limit each day at the Eastern Conference Regional on Lake Cherokee but their 22 lb. 11 oz. combined bag for 23^rd place just missed Bryan College's Matt Brown and DJ Barber's 23lbs. 14 oz. two-day total.

The Tigers had a second boat in the Top 30 as well, as Dakota Cantrell and Austin Moore finished in 26^th and missed the cut by 2lbs. 2oz.
 
"We had such a great weekend on the lake," said coach Tommy Hall. "Our top two boats culled multiple times and caught limits each day. We had a few large bass come off the hook but that's how it goes. Luck just wasn't on our side this weekend but I am very proud of the guys for the way they competed.
 
"An interesting side-note—the duo of Cantrell and Moore also made an instinct decision on the lake. With about 30 minutes left before anglers had to make their way back to the marina, Cantrell and Moore had a large bass that was 'trying to die' on them and started floating sideways in the live-well. And if you have a dead fish at weigh-ins, you get an eight-ounce deduction. Obviously, we saw how big eight ounces was this weekend. So instead of taking the risk of losing the fish at weigh-ins, Cantrell and Moore decided to come in 30 minutes early with their five-fish limit."
 
Nathan Bell and Cole Sands from Bryan College won the regional title after reeling in over 14lbs. in the three days on the lake. The duo finished with 14lb. 13oz on day one, 14lbs. 4oz. on day two and had a massive bag of 15lbs. 3oz. to claim the championship by 10oz. over Tennessee Tech's Sam Carris and John Berry.
 
The Tigers had five other boats in the water this weekend – Austin Weird/Levi Neathery (49^th, 14-3), Mason Sapp/Travis Hunt (53^rd, 13-15), Michael Shelton/Trevor Sagrecy (94^th, 6-15), Adam Carman/Grant Adams (98^th, 6-11) and Justin Mayfield/Colby Hays (102^nd, 6-0).
 
The final chance for Campbellsville to qualify a team for the 2017 Carhartt Bassmaster National Championship is the B.A.S.S. Wildcard on Lay Lake in Shelby Co., Ala. on June 8-10.
 
Next up for CU bass fishing is the FLW Central Region Qualifiers at Kentucky Dam Marina in Gilbertsville, Ky. for a chance to fish in the FLW National Championship on May 31.
 
CU will also compete in the Cabelas/Boast U.S. National Championship at Pickwick Lake in Florence, Ala. on May 22-26.