- After finishing second in world championships, Team USA — which includes three anglers from Michigan — finishes sixth
- The event was held in Michigan for the first time
- Lithuania won the event, followed by Finland and Norway
Golden dreams were dashed Sunday for Team USA in the World Ice Fishing Championship, finishing sixth after leading on Saturday during the two-day event on Tamarack Lake in Montcalm County.
“We had a big falloff today,” coach Myron Gilbert said on Sunday. “It’s the best of the world. Stuff happens.”
“I had high hopes but then everybody else that competes has just as high of hopes,” he said.
Read more: Ice fishing in the Olympics? Michigan competition could be start
Lithuania won for the second year in a row. They won gold at the World Ice Fishing Championship in Mongolia last year where Team USA got silver, medaling for the first time abroad.
Gilbert and the anglers on Team USA had set their sights on the top medal this year, on their home turf, competing in a state where three out of six anglers on the team live.
“It’s all about that team gold,” Team USA angler Keith Kniffen of Eaton Rapids told Bridge Michigan earlier this week.
Fellow Michigan residents on Team USA are Chad Schaub from Fountain outside Ludington and Zach George from Hastings, between Lansing and Grand Rapids also fished on the team.
Artūras Skvirba of Lithuania finished first, followed by Mindaugas Leonas of Lithuania and Odd Henning Hansen of Norway.
Anglers mostly caught crappie and bluegill, and the competition employed catch-and-release for the first time. Event organizers said it’s part of an effort to persuade Olympic officials the sport should be included in the iconic games.
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