When the club fishing duo of Jordan Truttschel and Tyler Netzer traveled to the FLW National Championships last weekend at Kentucky Lake in Murray, Ky., a top 10 finish was their goal.

However, they did not meet their objective and were knocked out after the first round of the tournament Friday, finishing in 16th place.

Despite the disappointing finish, the two anglers from Wisconsin said they couldn’t be any more proud of the way they fished over the weekend.

Stuck fishing against teams from mostly southern states and warm climate schools, the pair caught four bass over the first two days of the tournament weighing nine-pounds, three- ounces.

“I don’t want to make it seem like we’re making excuses, but we had a lot of factors working against us,” Truttschel said. “The water levels had changed since we were there last, the weather was ever-changing, and we caught a lot of fish that were just short of 15 inches, which was what they had to be to be kept.”

The University of Florida repeated as national champions.

The 16th place finish isn’t the end of the world for the two fishermen.

They have already qualified for this year’s regional final, which takes place in the fall. If they take top five at regionals, another national championship trip will be booked.

With the experience the team gained at this year’s championships, they think it will serve them well if they make another appearance.

“All of the fishermen we faced are really good,” Netzer said. “By talking to some of the other guys I know that I learned a lot about different [fishing techniques] I would have never thought of trying.”