Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg win 2025 bass final

SHELBYVILLE — A Shelby County co-op team took home championship gold last weekend at the 2025 Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Bass Fishing State Final at Lake Shelbyville.

The sports co-op of Windsor High School and Stewardson-Strasburg High School won the state title with Myles Verdeyen, Hayden Porter, and Heath Westendorf fishing last Friday and Saturday.

The team caught five fish weighing ten pounds, six ounces on Friday and five fish on Saturday weighing 14 pounds, eight ounces to edge out 60 other teams for the state championship.

The 2025 State Final is the first of five State Finals to be held at Lake Shelbyville after a lengthy stint at Lake Carlyle.

The Bass State Final came to Lake Shelbyville following a coordinated effort by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Lake Shelbyville, the City of Shelbyville, and Shelbyville CUSD #4 to persuade the IHSA to move the tournament to Lake Shelbyville from Lake Carlyle during a presentation last year.

Rainy conditions throughout the tournament didn’t slow down any fishing action, and the beach on Ninth Street was the venue for the weigh-ins.

Many spectators were on site to watch the weigh-ins as well as the awards ceremony.

Greg Harkins, a teacher at Shelbyville CUSD #4, led the charge in tournament support, recruiting a group of young fishing enthusiasts to serve as guides and errand runners.

The final for the 2025-26 academic year will return to Lake Shelbyville on Friday, June 5 and Saturday, June 6.

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Jake Leonard

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Jake Leonard, a broadcast media and journalism veteran, is the editor-in-chief of Heartland Newsfeed. Leonard is also GM and program director of Heartland Newsfeed Radio Network, wrestling editor and contributing writer for Ambush Sports, a contributing writer for My Sports Vote and Midwest Sports Network, and a former contributor to Bleacher Report and Overtime Heroics. He resides at home in Nokomis, Ill. with his dog Buster.

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