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 our school to have not just one, but two teams out of the select few representing Georgia at this tournament,” Nemec said. “These young men have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to learning and improving their skills, and their hard work has paid off.”

FEATURED PHOTO: Lanier High School students Bryson Dover, left, and Angel Cornejo finished at the top of the leaderboard in the 2023 GHSA Bass Fishing State Championship on May 20, 2023, at Clarks Hill Lake in Lincolnton. The duo secured the state title with five out of five fish and a total weight of 20.08 pounds. Photo courtesy of Come Alive Visuals.