The Fresno State Fishing Club’s Sark Davidian and Kong Moua finished 17th of 25 teams in the inaugural National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship held April 10-12 on Fort Loudon Lake near Knoxville, Tenn.

Fresno State’s team was joined by qualifiers from five sections of the nation for the competition. The five duos with the heaviest cumulative catch on the first two days advanced to the third-day finals. Davidian and Moua got skunked on Day 2 and had to settle for the 5 pounds, 13 ounces as their total weight, dropping them to 17th place overall.

Davidian and Moua qualified for the national competition by placing third In September at the Western Regional Championships on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta near Stockton. They won the qualifier for that competition and a $10,000 prize.

Prize money is split between the Fresno State Fishing Club and California State University, Fresno.

The national championship event was won by a University of Florida team that netted 10 fish weighing 29 pounds, 10 ounces — just nine ounces more than runner-up Texas State University.

The Gators will receive $25,000 cash, a boat in school colors for their school’s bass club and $50,000 for the university.

Davidian, who is from Visalia, is a senior business administration (marketing emphasis) major, while Moua is a junior marketing major from Pomona.

The Fresno State Bass Fishing Club was formed in 2008 and has 40 members. Prize money is divided between equally between the university and the club, which uses its winnings to pay for future tournaments, travel, expenses and equipment. The university’s share is available for a variety of purposes.