PHOTO PROVIDED Connor Kapp of Benton, right, and Colegan Stiner of Wellsboro, left, pose with five bass they caught as part of the Pennsylvania BASS Nation state championship. The duo won as part of Wellsboro bassmasters for a second consecutive year.

Colegan Stiner is just a junior and 16 years old at Wellsboro High School, but the Green Hornet is already quite accomplished when it comes to fishing.

Stiner competes with the Wellsboro bassmasters, an affiliated group with Wellsboro High School, had an outstanding season this year by winning the Pennsylvania BASS Nation state championship for the second consecutive year with teammate Connor Kapp of Benton.

The two had the top spot in a field of 16 boats. The tournament, which spanned two days at the end of April, took place on Elk River near the northern end of the Cheseapeake Bay.

Stiner and Kapp, in addition to boat captain Jan Stiner, were fourth-place finishers on the first day by reaching their five-fish limit weighing 13.36 pounds, just more than four pounds from first. That group was also one of just three teams in the tournament to catch five bass on the first day.

On the second day of competition, Stiner and Kapp again caught five bass with a total weight of 15.04 pounds, which enabled them to capture first place in the tournament.

Stiner and Kapp were also the only team competing to catch a total of 10 fish, which was the maximum limit, in the tournament.

Stiner was recognized this year with an athletic letter, the first ever for bass fishing.

The Pennsylvania BASS Nation High School and Junior League organizes youth tournaments in three various divisions within Pennsylvania with western, central and eastern. Each division also consists of three tournaments and members of the league are able to fish in any or all of the nine tournaments, regardless of residency.

Stiner and Kapp fished in six tournaments between the central and eastern divisions and took first place in both the central and east. Doing so enabled them to become eligible for the state tournament in Elk River in Maryland.

Stiner and Kapp were first-place finishers at Beltville Lake in Jim Thorpe and first-place finishers at Harvey’s Lake. Stiner was a third-place finisher at Blue Marsh Lake in Reading. All three of those tournaments were part of the eastern region.

In the central region, the duo competed in Youghiogheny River Lake in Confluence, a joint tournament for the central and western divisions. They took fourth at Ives Run in Tioga-Hammond Lakes and were third at Snyder’s Launch in Raystown Lake.

Each tournament winner is determined by the total weight of the fish with a five-fish limit. There’s also extra points for lunkers.

Stiner and Kapp qualified for and attended the High School National Championship in Hartwell, South Carolina last July. The two also fish independently in various tournaments on the East Coast.