For the past four years, both Seneca bass fishing coach Andy Jackson and senior fisherman Nick Stuedemann have grown with the Fighting Irish program.

After coming close to making the state cut in the past three seasons, this time the locals got the breakthrough they were looking for. At the La Salle Lake Sectional, the Irish took second place with three fish totaling 3.24 pounds. Streator won the event with four fish at 8.68 pounds.

"We've been close before so it was exciting that it all came together this year," Stuedemann said. "We figured it out and did what we needed to do."