HICKORY, N.C. — Red Hawk freshman angler Jeremy Dellinger has been named the Catawba Valley Community College Angler of the Year.
The freshman from Denver, N.C. said his first season with the inaugural Red Hawks bass fishing team started off slow, but he finished it strong.
"Winning Angler of the Year is a big personal accomplishment," Dellinger said. "After starting the season off with a low eighth-place finish in our first team tournament, I knew it was going to be hard for me to rebound and have a chance at winning. As the season progressed I inched my way up the standings, getting closer and closer to the top."
During his first collegiate tournament in the fall, Dellinger finished in ninth place at the B.A.S.S. North Carolina State Team Qualifier on Roanoke River in September.
He carried that momentum into the spring semester, and overcoming difficult weather and fishing conditions, Dellinger was the top finisher for the Red Hawks during the FLW Abu Garcia College Fishing tournament on Lake Seminole in February.
Dellinger was also the highest finishing at the 2020 Auburn University CPR Tournament, which was held in an online format at the end of April.
"Being able to make up as much ground as I did while going to so many diverse bodies of water — many of which I had never seen before — made me realize that I had a genuine shot at winning it, simply because I was able to adapt to different tough situations," Dellinger said. "I wanted to win because I needed to prove to myself that I could be successful in tournament fishing. Getting to compete against some of my closest friends on the team was a very cool experience, and I look forward to starting again next year."
During the eight intrasquad tournaments held during the 2019-20 school year, Dellinger won three of them, including the first tournament of the spring 2020 semester on Mountain Island Lake.
He also finished second once and third three times during those intrasquad tournaments.
"The key to becoming the Angler of the Year is consistency," Mayo said. "Jeremy has performed extremely well all year, winning several of our CVCC team tournaments and placing in the top three in several more. I look forward to seeing him continue to grow in the coming year and expect him to place well in our upcoming National Championship Tournament on Pickwick Lake in Alabama next month."
Dellinger, along with five other anglers from the Catawba Valley Community College bass fishing team — Lane Bailey, Adam Seagle, Spencer Black, Nathan Smith and Caleb Lonca — have earned a berth to the BoatUS National Championship, which takes place June 10-11 on Pickwick Lake in Florence, Ala.
"I'm really excited for this National Championship here in just a couple weeks," Dellinger said. "It's on the Tennessee River on Lake Pickwick, and it's a very fun place to go to. I've been there once before, and we caught lots of fish. We're hoping to get all three CVCC teams towards the top of the leaderboard and make a statement."