
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, April 24, 1994                   TAG: 9404240223
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: C-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PINE BLUFF, ARK.                                LENGTH: Short

KERCHAL WINS WRANGLER-BASS TITLE

Bryan Kerchal outfished 48 other anglers to win the Wrangler-BASS National Championship for amateurs Saturday on the Arkansas River.

Kerchal, of Newtown, Conn., had a three-day total of 11 fish weighing 30 pounds, five ounces to win $15,000. Brent Riley of Ridgeville, S.C., won the $7,000 second prize with 13 fish totaling 29 pounds, 13 ounces.

Gerry Jooste, of Harare, Zimbabwe, finished third with 14 fish weighing 28 pounds, 15 ounces. Jooste is the first intercontinental angler to qualify for the 24-year-old BASS Masters Classic world championship.

The championship tournament will begin July 30 in Greensboro, N.C.

Sonny Johnson of Pennington Gap, Va., finished ninth with 12 fish weighing 22 pounds, 7 ounces.

Also qualifying for the national title were Greg Hawk of Vandalia, Ohio, and Ken Teis of Santa Teresa, N.M. Hawk had a three-day catch of 14 fish weighing 28 pounds, 13 ounces. Teis caught seven fish weighing 25 pounds, 13 ounces.

by CNB