Rochelle anglers Cooper Hasz and Griffin Ohlinger leaned on head coach Curt Samo’s experience at Shabbona Lake on Thursday, when the Hub bass fishing team sent two boats out on the water for one of several IHSA Sectional meets happening across the state.
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SHABBONA — Rochelle anglers Cooper Hasz and Griffin Ohlinger leaned on head coach Curt Samo’s experience at Shabbona Lake on Thursday, when the Hub bass fishing team sent two boats out on the water for one of several IHSA Sectional meets happening across the state.
With the weather conditions changing throughout the morning and afternoon, finding the fish early and often would be paramount for any team looking to qualify for the IHSA State Championship at Carlyle Lake. Rochelle’s No. 1 boat of Samo, Hasz and Ohlinger did exactly that, with the anglers reeling in their biggest catches within a one-hour time frame and ultimately finishing third out of 14 boats with a final weight count of 9 pounds and 10 ounces.
The third-place performance was enough to advance Rochelle to the IHSA State Championship for the sixth time in seven years (the 2019-20 IHSA State Series was canceled due to COVID-19). For Hasz and Ohlinger, who are both in their first years with the Hub bass fishing team, relying on the knowledge of their veteran head coach was a key to their success.
“I was surprised that we qualified because we had no idea how the competition was going and we had fished the same area for a good amount of time at the start of the competition,” Ohlinger said. “We knew an area where the fish were, thanks to coach Samo, and we reached our limit within an hour… I have high hopes for the state meet because I know coach Samo can find us a good spot on the lake that will help us do well and hopefully pull out a top placement.”
Rochelle’s No. 2 boat, which featured Garrett Burdin, Sergio Guevara and coach Phil Hasz, finished 11th with a weight count of 2 pounds and 3 ounces. The IHSA State Championship will take place from May 21-22 at Carlyle Lake. Rochelle’s best performance at the state meet came in 2016, when the Hubs took fourth overall with a final count of 13 pounds and 14 ounces.
“Being able to qualify for state in my first year on the bass fishing team is a really cool experience,” Cooper Hasz said. “Patience and going with our gut were the keys to our success and it worked out for us. It was a roller coaster of a day. I expect that the state meet will be harder than sectionals, but competing with the other top bass fishermen in the state will be fun.”
