Kevin VanDam

Wirth the wait

June 30, 2008
(bassmaster.com, June 30, 2008)

HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. — Wirth wins one, wire-to-wire.

After a 14-year drought without a win, nine-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier Kevin Wirth finally pulled out his first Elite Series victory — in the Tennessee Triumph presented by Longhorn — by holding off a late-charging Bill Lowen on a cloudy, windy day on Old Hickory Lake.

“It’s been long, and it’s been hard,” the former Kentucky Derby jockey said as he stood at his livewell, the last man to weigh his fish. “Fourteen years. Let’s put ‘em on the scale.”

The weight of 26 other top-10 and five runner-up finishes lifted from the slender 45-year-old’s shoulders when his fish registered. His 10-pound limit, anchored by the first two fish he caught on a buzzbait after a week of flipping shallow, pushed him to 55-10, well past Lowen’s 50-5 — and to the $100,000 first prize.

“Yeah!” Wirth screamed. He thrust his fist in the air and gave Lowen a hug. When that excitement ebbed, he was left wiping his eyes behind his sunglasses.

“I can’t hardly hold my emotions here,” Wirth told the weigh-in crowd at Sanders Ferry Park. “There’s been many a day you think this isn’t the right thing to be doing. This makes it all worthwhile.

“Dreams do come true.”

So accustomed to heartbreak is Wirth that he began the day almost consoling himself this would still be a successful tournament by counting the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year points he would earn, even if he were to zero on Day Four. That didn’t happen, obviously, but Wirth, who began the week in 51st in the points, immensely helped his odds of qualifying for the 2009 Classic.

Lowen, who began the day in fourth, leaped to second place on the strength of the day’s biggest bag, 14-9. He was doing well enough by 11 a.m. that thoughts of winning the tournament had crept into his head, giving him trouble tying on baits.

The impounded river reminded him plenty of growing up fishing the Ohio River, and he would have been a stronger threat to win this event had he not bottomed out with an 8-9 bag on Day Three, when he left his dominant spot and cruised to another — where Wirth happened to be.

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/elite/news/story?id=3466392

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