A Waterloo High School graduate is making waves in college bass fishing, qualifying for a national tournament as a student at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Kyle Wagner, the son of John and Julie Wagner of Waterloo, is no stranger to bass fishing success. As a sophomore at WHS in 2012, he placed third in the state from a starting point of 431 boats.

He has continued to fish in the Fishing League Worldwide collegiate series while at SIUC. This past weekend, Wagner qualified for the nationals that will take place in Spring 2016.

In order to advance, Wagner and his teammate, Steven Seiler of Mokena, had to qualify at one of three regional events. They qualified at the Kentucky Lake tournament in June, and over the weekend placed third at the Central Division Conference Championship at Carlyle Lake.

The top 10 teams from each conference move on to the televised national competition.

Wagner and Seiler won $1,000 for their school team and Wagner won $500 individually from Ranger Boats.

“Qualifying for the national championship is a great feeling and it’s very rewarding to see all my hard work preparing for this tournament pay off,” Wagner told the Republic-Times. “All of my work preparing for this tournament and my participation in all of my tournaments could not be possible without all of my sponsors including Dobyns Rods, Strike King, Lew’s and Tackle Warehouse.”

In preparation for the conference championship, Wagner and his teammate practiced every weekend at Carlyle Lake for the month leading up to the event.

“The fishing was very tough on Carlyle Lake during the tournament and only eight boats caught fish the first day,” Wagner said.

The SIUC duo caught three fish weighing a total of six pounds, 11 ounces, putting them in second place.

This meant he and Seiler were guaranteed to advance after the first day, but there was still money to compete for on the second day.

“The second day was an even tougher day and only one fish was caught and ended up pushing us down to third place,” Wagner said.

Wagner said he’s been fishing for as long as he can remember. He started fishing competitively during his freshman year at WHS.

“I got into the sport when I was little and my dad would take me down to a pond by our house,” Wagner said. “Ever since then, I’ve been hooked and have wanted to keep taking it to the next level. My dad has taught me almost everything I know about bass fishing.”

Bass fishing is special to Wagner.

“It is a sport that I can stand out in competitively and also enjoy recreationally,” he said.