On Saturday, September 7, 2002 at 6:30 a.m. there were 36 boat drivers and 63 collegiate anglers at Lost Bridge East Ramp on Salomonie Lake preparing for practice for the Big Ten Classic Tournament. At 3:00 p.m. the boaters and anglers arrived back at Lost Bridge with some reports of fish being caught and everyone was excited about the next days competition.
Saturday evening boat drivers, anglers and sponsors of the tournament arrived at the North Star Civic Center in Huntington, Indiana for the pre-tournament banquet and pairings. Huntington County greeted us with signs welcoming us to town. North Star Civic Center had a beautiful banquet room and a great meal for everyone involved with the tournament. Mark Sollman introduced our guest speakers for the evening: Rose Meldron with Huntington Tourism; Clay Dyer from Hamilton, Alabama; Lonnie Stanley from Huntington, Texas; Todd Larson from Avon, Indiana and our own Paul Hollabaugh from Ft. Wayne, Indiana. The sponsors for the event were all introduced at the banquet: ESPN, Indiana Bass Federation, Mariner Enterprises, Hairman, National Boat Mart, Ray Scott Outdoors, Raghorn News, Abbotts Outdoors, Hunter's Den, Forks of the Wabash Tackle Shop, Sizmic Lures Co., Bass and More Tackle, Skeeter-Yamaha, Minn-Kota Trolling Motors and Turbo Props
Sunday morning started at 4:00 a.m. for the boat drivers and anglers with a great breakfast at The Country Post Restaurant in Huntington. Kathy and her help had the coffee and food ready and they fed over 100 people in less than one hour so we could head for the ramp. National Boat Mart, Skeeter-Yamaha and the Indiana BASS Federation paid for the breakfast.
The tournament started at 6:30 am at the Dora New Holland Ramp. The Anglers were all anticipating a great day on the water and the ESPN camera boats were right there to catch as much action as they could on film. All Boats were to be in a 2:30 pm for the weigh-in. We had a drive-thru weigh-in with Lonnie Stanley interviewing each angler that weighed fish at the scales and the ESPN cameras were rolling. The final standings were as follows:
| 1. | Purdue University | 7 fish weighing 12.94 lbs |
| 2. | Wisconsin | 4 fish weighing 7.64 lbs |
| 3. | Illinois | 3 fish weighing 6.18 lbs |
| 4. | Michigan State | 3 fish weighing 5.68 lbs |
| 5. | Indiana University | 2 fish weighing 4.22 lbs |
| 6. | Iowa | 1 fish weighing 2.58 lbs |
| 7. | University of Michigan | 1 fish weighing 1.30 lbs |
Purdue University Bass Fishing Team
BIG-10 CHAMPIONS
The top individual was Mark Sollman of Purdue with a weight of 6.04 lbs. He also caught the big fish of the tournament with a weight of 3.66 lbs. Mark received a new G-Loomis rod from Bass and More Tackle for being the top angler in the tournament.
Winner of the big ten classic
with Todd Larsen of Skeeter
Eric Foister of Huntington received a new Fenwick rod from Forks of the Wabash Tackle for being the top boat driver of the tournament.
I personally want to thank all of the boat drivers for donating their time, money and boats for this tournament. Without your support we could not achieve the things we do. I also want to thank Mr. and Mrs. Ken Gibbs for bringing the release boat. Larry Watson, Cory Thompson, Bill Templeton, Don Jenkins, my wife, Teresa, my daughter and son-in-law Laurie and Phil Mailloux, Ron and Barb Short, Todd and Daphne Larson and J.B. Bridges all for helping to make this tournament a success.
A very special thanks and congratulations to Purdue Bass Club and their president Mark Sollman for all the hard work that went into planning this event and for their successful outcome in winning the tournament.
John Gustin, Tournament Director
