With quarantine making it harder to hang out with your friends and have fun, a group of PVHS students decided to create a fishing tournament to combat this odd time.
The idea originated last year when Junior Seth Clausen and Sophomore Drew Micek wanted to have a fishing tournament and it was a big hit. “I figured we should have another one since quarantine is making it difficult to do other things so it would be a good time,” Clausen says.
Shortly after the idea, they had a total of 19 students who wanted to participate. In order to maintain social distance the group was divided into nine teams, each having two people (with the exception of one team). They also made it a rule that no more than 2 teams can be at the same spot fishing. “We wanted to maintain as much social distancing as possible so we knew it was necessary to create these rules,” Senior Hunter Pieper says.
The group of students consist of mainly Sophomores and Juniors, with a few Freshman and Seniors. This group of friends often spent their time fishing so they decided to put a little more on the line and make it a tournament.
At the end of the day, whichever team had the most total weight from their three biggest fish won. “Making it a competition really raises the stakes, and makes it a lot more fun,” Pieper says.
Each duo paid $10 and the winner took all. Making the prize a grand total of $90 to the winning team. This pool of money was awarded to the team of three: Freshman Aden O’Donnell, Henry Leslie and Sophomore Ryan Groenenboom.
This tournament also gave some students a new hobby. Junior Michael Nauman, who had never been fishing up to this point, was excited to try something new. “I always wanted to try fishing but I never really had a chance so when I heard some of my friends were doing this I wanted to join. It was a great time and I’m glad I learned how to fish,” Nauman says.
