Bethel Angler Sets New Record In Collegiate Fishing

MCKENZIE, Tenn. – Bethel University Senior KJ Queen has become the first angler in the history of collegiate Bass fishing to qualify for both the Bassmasters National Championship and the FLW National Championship during all five years of his college fishing eligibility.  Queen has competed in four Bassmasters National Championship fishing tournaments during his college career and as of this past week while fishing his home waters of Lake Norman near Charlotte, North Carolina Queen and partner Dax Ewart qualified for the upcoming 2019 Championship for Bassmasters.
Queen has also fished in the FLW National Championship three years of his college career and will make his fourth appearance in the FLW Championship in June on the Potomac River near Marbury, Maryland.
On February 22nd, KJ fished the Lake Norman tournament and qualified for the 2019 BassMasters National Championship.   Earlier this year on Lake Seminole, KJ qualified for the 2020 FLW National Championship.
Both Bassmasters and FLW allow collegiate anglers to compete in college tournaments for a total of five years.  In each year since joining Bethel in 2015, KJ has been perfect in his pursuit to qualify for the National Championships.
KJ’s has a long history of top finishes.  Prior to his college career, he achieved two top three finishes in the World High School Championships. Queen also won the FLW High School National Championship placing him high on the radar to be recruited for the Bethel Wildcats fishing team.
In his first college tournament, KJ fished with his sister, Chelsey, and finished second in a Bassmasters regional.  That was his first chance to compete in a National Championship and he and his sister became the first ever brother-sister qualifier for a national championship berth.   Queen also had a 3^rd place finish in the 2017 FLW College National Championship and a top 10 in the 2017 BassMasters National Championship.  He is looking forward to again competing for that prestigious title in 2019.
“We Congratulate KJ Queen for this monumental achievement and wish him all the best during the last few months of his Collegiate Bass angling career,” said Coach Garry Mason.
KJ will graduate this upcoming May from Bethel and is planning on making a career in the fishing industry as he and his father have started Queen Tackle Co. offering quality angling products to customers nationwide.