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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

ANDERSON, S.C. – As the University of Montevallo has racked up title after title around the country, from Bass Pro Shops School of the Year to an alum winning the Bassmaster Classic, one has eluded them: the Bass Pro Shops Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship.

The Falcons righted that wrong on Saturday, May 23 with a little help from two Birmingham-area natives.

Chelsea native Peyton Harris and Moody native Dalton Head won Montevallo’s first national championship at the 2025 Bass Pro Shops Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, S.C.

“It’s the one title that has been eluding us,” Harris said. “Bringing it home feels amazing.”

Harris and Head teamed up to secure the national title as the winning boat on Lake Hartwell. The senior duo finished the two-day tournament with a total weight of 37.14 pounds.

In addition to finishing on top of the standings at the event, Montevallo also repeated as the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year for the fifth-straight season. The Falcons took first place in the season-long points standings by beating out two-time School of the Year North Alabama.

Before this year, Montevallo most recently won the School of the Year title in 2024 with 40,305 points, almost 4,000 points ahead of second place.

The victories continue a banner year for the Falcons on both the collegiate and professional stage. The highlight came from UM alum Easton Fothergill as he won the Bassmaster Classic in Texas in February after playing a part in multiple School of the Year titles.

Next year’s Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship will return to the Yellowhammer State when Pickwick Lake in Florence hosts the tournament on May 21 and 22, 2026.