Hunter Shelton talked Jordan Hampton into joining the Trigg County High School fishing team when competitive fishing was still new to Shelton. Neither realized it at the time but a formidable fishing team was born. Add in boat captain Gary Houha and they began to win at the state and national level.
On Monday, Hampton and Shelton, with their families and Houha next to them, signed a scholarship offer to attend and fish at Bethel University in McKenzie, Tennessee.
In October, Shelton and Hampton won the ninth annual Bradley Roy High School Fishing Open Sunday sponsored by Kentucky BASS Nation.
The tournament win was the first for a Trigg County fishing team outside of KHSAA competition.
They also have qualified for the Student Angler Federation National Championship to be held later this year on Pickwick Lake in Alabama. It marks the second straight year that the duo has qualified for the national event.
Shelton and Hampton are the second and third Trigg anglers in as many seasons under coach Scott Schrock to continue fishing in college, joining Anthony Ethridge who competes at Murray State.
Hampton teamed with Emily Huntsman to finish 22nd at the 2019 KHSAA State Bass Fishing Tournament. Then the 2020 spring season was canceled due to COVID-19. A disastrous day on the water at the region in 2021 saw Hampton and Shelton fish in the rain all day without a catch. The state tournament later this year on Kentucky Lake presents the duo with the white whale to their Ahab.
After the spring and summer competition, it’s off to one of the most successful fishing programs in the South.
Bethel is coached by outdoors expert Garry Mason, who formed the university’s bass fishing program which has won eleven national titles since its inception in 2009.
[Photos by Ashlyn Brown]
