Coach John Owen and his Murray State Faculty Aggies are top-of-the-line tales in collegiate bass fishing.
TISHOMINGO, Okla. (February 19, 2026) – Positioned in rural Oklahoma with simply over 3,000 full and part-time college students, Murray State Faculty is small, however rising rapidly. The NJCAA Division I faculty’s bass fishing group is actually doing it’s half to create notoriety. Over the previous three-and-a-half years, the Aggies have gained two back-to-back Junior Faculty Nationwide Championships, an MLF nationwide convention title on Grand Lake, two Oklahoma Faculty of the 12 months titles, and are at the moment poised to win a 3rd. Probably the most exceptional a part of the story? There was no Murray State Faculty Bass Fishing Workforce three-and-a-half years in the past. John Owen, 48 years previous and hailing from Ardmore, Oklahoma, is the top coach for Murray State Faculty and in addition serves because the Oklahoma Bass Nation faculty coordinator for the state of Oklahoma.
“I began out in 2016 as a coach at Plainview Excessive Faculty in Ardmore. Highschool bass fishing was simply getting large in Southern Oklahoma on the time, and my son was going there. We bought with the AD and bought a program began,” Owen remembers. “I nonetheless assist out and run the highschool stuff for the state… schedule their tournaments, issues like that. Anyway, Murray State Faculty reached out to me just a few years later and needed to start out a collegiate program. They ended up hiring me to be their head coach and begin a group. That was in 2022. We began with zero youngsters and have constructed it to over 40 now.” Owen and his group have stacked up quite a lot of achievement in only some years. And being a junior faculty, they’ve achieved it with freshmen and sophomores. “That is actually simply our third yr of getting a real program, and we’ve gained the Oklahoma Faculty of the 12 months title twice in a row. It seems like we’ll win it once more this yr,” Owen says. “This can be a competitors between about ten collegiate applications, most of that are four-year universities. These youngsters are all hitting the bottom operating and are prepared to go. I imply, for a junior faculty group in simply our third yr… I’m shocked and impressed with what these younger athletes are doing.” Owen does his finest to assist his group members each on and off the water. “Our largest hurdles come that first semester. I inform the youngsters it’s going to be the toughest semester of their faculty profession,” Owen says. “As a result of they’ve to return in and so they’ve bought to learn to navigate being away from mother and pa, doing homework, doing their laundry, ensuring they eat dinner, at all times having all their gear prepared… these issues. Then the on-the-water stuff… we’ve bought to start out coaching these youngsters in the event that they don’t already know easy methods to begin selecting their spots, understanding when to remain, when to go the following spot, the place to go, why they’re going there, and why the fish are or aren’t biting. All this stuff must be coached and discovered that first semester.”
Then there’s ensuring everybody has gear. Owen says St. Croix Rod and SEVIIN Reels’ scholastic applications are an enormous profit. “I began utilizing St. Croix rods again in 2016. I’ve used different rods and, truthfully, St. Croix are the most effective rods on earth. And their guarantee program can be the most effective,” Owen states. “A part of the job is instructing these youngsters easy methods to develop relationships within the {industry}, and the St. Croix and SEVIIN scholastic applications open the door to this, present them with high quality gear they will depend on, and educate them the worth of a two-way relationship. In immediately’s market with gas costs and sort out and every little thing always going up, these applications have super worth to us, not simply financially, but additionally on the water. Fishing with technique-specific St. Croix rods, the youngsters study rod energy and motion, watch their hookup ratios go up, and lose fewer fish. We use quite a lot of Legend Match Bass rods and the youngsters love them. And it by no means hurts once they see those self same blue rods within the fingers of fellows successful Elite occasions like Trey McKinney and Pat Schlapper. It connects the dots for them. “Identical with the reels,” Owen continues. “I just lately began utilizing SEVIIN Reels myself and I’ve skilled the advantages firsthand. Particularly the adjustability and casting distance. It’s means up with SEVIIN. We watched Hank Cherry win the Bassmaster Elite at Guntersville a pair weeks in the past utilizing the SEVIIN GS and our group was like ‘yep, we all know all about that reel.’” The Murray State Faculty Bass Fishing Workforce turned in one other championship efficiency this previous weekend at Spherical 4 of the Oklahoma Faculty BASS Championship on Lake Texoma.
Main the way in which for the Aggies have been Riley Motrych and Carl Robbins, who captured first place with a mixed two-day weight of 32.40 kilos, strengthening the group’s maintain on first place in Faculty of the 12 months. The Aggies have six extra tournaments this season. Sam Rayburn is subsequent, February 25-26. The ultimate Oklahoma BASS Championship occasion might be held in April on Grand Lake.
Comply with the Aggies on Fb and Instagram. For extra data on the St. Croix Rod and SEVIIN Reels Scholastic Packages, electronic mail advertising@stcroixrods.com.
About St. Croix RodHeadquartered in Park Falls, Wisconsin, St. Croix has been proudly crafting the “Greatest Rods on Earth” for practically 80 years. Combining state-of-the-art manufacturing processes with expert craftsmanship, St. Croix is the one main producer to nonetheless construct rods fully from design by manufacturing. The corporate stays family-owned and operates duplicate manufacturing services in Park Falls and Fresnillo, Mexico. With in style trademarked collection resembling Legend®, Legend Xtreme®, Avid®, Premier®, Imperial®, Triumph® and Mojo, St. Croix is revered by all sorts of anglers from all over the world. The St. Croix Household of Manufacturers consists of St. Croix Rod, SEVIIN Reels, St. Croix Fly, Rod Geeks, and the St. Croix Manufacturing unit Retailer. About SEVIIN ReelsWherever and nevertheless you fish, the reel in your hand ought to assist create higher experiences. Born from St. Croix Rod’s seven many years of design and manufacturing experience, industry-leading customer support, and unbroken non-public possession by the Schluter household courting again to 1977, SEVIIN reels are meticulously engineered and purpose-built to assist anglers conquer each species on each piece of water on the planet. SEVIIN focuses on reels and reels solely, designing and advertising merchandise that enhance the angling expertise, whatever the rods anglers select. Seven seas, seven continents, seven days every week, SEVIIN reels are fueled by a collective love of fishing surpassed solely by a ardour to ship probably the most dependable reels on the water. The St. Croix Household of Manufacturers consists of St. Croix Rod, SEVIIN Reels, St. Croix Fly, Rod Geeks, and the St. Croix Manufacturing unit Retailer.
